Life is Beautiful
by PrincessxPunk
Summary: Norman/OC story.
1. Something Big

I sat down with a sick feeling in my stomach and just stared at the little + mark on the pregnancy test and I didn't believe it. I didn't know how it could have happened, I mean I knew how it happened but I still didn't understand when it happened. I finally realized this was real and not a dream. I kinda smiled, because I always wanted a child but I didn't know how my boyfriend, Norman, was going to take it. Norman was away at a convention and I didn't want to text him or even call him about it, because this was something you'd normally do in person. I got a text from him and he said 'Hey babe, I just wanted to let you know I'm gonna be home tomorrow. Call me, I want to hear your voice.'

I ended up crying, and trying to work through how to tell him we were going to have a baby together. I sat down and watched some South Park and laughed and decided I'd call Norman and just ask how the convention went. We talked for about 30 mins and he said 'Hey babe, I've gotta go my break is over and I've got a long line of people waiting... I'll talk to you tonight. Love you!' I loved hearing his voice and it made me think about our future together. I smiled and rubbed my stomach, knowing that I have a living and growing being inside me made me cry again.

Norman got home the next day and I was so happy, with him being gone for weeks at a time I realized just how much I missed him. I ran up to him, and looked up at him and almost got lost in his blue eyes. 'I missed you' he said. I kissed him and looked down at the bag he had in his hand. 'Oh.. uh I got you some stuff while I was away.' I loved how even though there was distance between us, he always thought of me. He started to pull out all kinds of shirts and other things. He pulled a shirt out and held it behind his back and when I got comfy he showed it to me, I noticed that he had on his Circle Jerks shirt and I noticed that the shirt was an exact match to the one he had on. 'Now we can match and you won't be stealing this one from me' I couldn't believe it. I held it up and said 'I'm gonna go change into it right now' and I went into the bedroom to change and I quickly looked at the tag it was the size I wore, but how long could I wear it for until it was just hanging in the closet? I put it on, and came out and Norman said 'Aww' and I said 'Thanks for everything' and he said 'No problem, I love you. I'd do anything for you' and I looked into his eyes and said 'I have a surprise for you to..' and he said 'You do?' and looked at me with a puzzled look. I went into the bathroom and grabbed the 2 positive pregnancy tests off the counter. I rubbed my belly and said 'Here goes nothing' and I came out and was standing in front of him with a look of fear on my face. 'What's wrong? Come here. If anything's wrong, tell me.' I handed him one pregnancy test and he looked at it and up at me and back down at it. I handed him the second one and he held both of them and looked up at me and back and forth in total silence. All of sudden he put both of them down, and got up and walked over to me and rubbed my stomach and said 'We're having a baby! I can't wait!' I kinda smiled, and he said 'I can't wait to tell Mingus that he's getting a sibling! He's going to be so excited!'

A few weeks had passed and I was already showing. I accepted this and was happy that Norman was happy. It was a calm time period, no filming, no conventions, just us. I enjoyed moments like this and I treasured every second. It was Norman's week to watch Mingus and it was also the week we were going to break the news that he was going to have a sibling. I sat in the passenger seat in a baggy shirt to hide my belly. Norman got out and walked over and picked him up and carried him to the car. "Dad I can walk. Put me down." I heard Mingus say. I giggled a bit. "Sorry can't help it, in my mind you're my little boy" Norman said.

Pretty soon we were back at the apartment, and I plopped down on the couch. Mingus plopped down right beside me while Norman made some dinner. I grabbed the remote and asked 'So, what do you wanna watch little buddy?' and Mingus said 'South Park.. wait no something scary!' I said 'Okay scary it is!' and I pulled out the remake of Halloween and sat back down. We started watching it and I curled up to Norman to act scared. He looked at me and said 'It's okay babe, it's only a movie' and I giggled and kissed him. "Eww get a room" I heard Mingus say with a giggle. I noticed Norman hand put his arm around my belly. I kinda forgot about the news. I noticed the movie was over and I looked at Mingus and said "Mind if I ask you a question?" and he said "Depends what is it?" and he looked up at me. I looked at Norman and he asked 'Well, buddy if you had the chance would you like a brother or sister?" and he looked at him with a weird look and said "Well dad, I would like to have a sibling, but yeah it probably won't ever happen." he looked depressed. "You know all my friends have siblings and here I am all by myself..." and I frowned and said "Well... guess what buddy?" "What?" He said "Wait here I got a surprise to make up for that." I said. I went into the bedroom and pulled out the ultrasound pictures I had, you could barely make out the little human but still. I walked out and said "Okay ready for your surprise? Close your eyes" and he closed his eyes and I put the pictures in his lap and said 'Okay you can open your eyes now!' and he looked down at the pictures and said 'Hey dad, why did you give me these? I've already seen what I looked like inside mommy's tummy.' and Norman said 'No buddy look at the date.' with a smirk. Mingus looked at the date which was a few days before today's date. His eyes got wide and he started screaming and crying. "I'M GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER! I'M GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER!" and I started crying and Norman whispered in my ear 'I think you don't have to worry about him feeling left out." He ran up to me and hugged me, I was short but his head still came up to my stomach and he hugged me and noticed I was bigger than usual. He looked up at me and started putting his hand on my stomach. "I don't feel it kicking, is something wrong?!" he looked up at me with fear in his eyes. "Nah, it's just gonna take a while before your little brother or sister gets big enough to want to talk to us." Norman said with a giggle. I lifted up my shirt to show him my little bump and he just started hugging me and didn't want to let go.

In reality we could take care of Mingus as long as we wanted. As long as we weren't keeping him against his will. Ever since he found out about this huge news, he didn't want to leave my side. Everywhere I went he'd be right there. I had an appointment coming up in a few days and knew he would be so excited to go and see his possible brother or sister. I kept it secret until the very day we had to go. I woke up and had butterflies in my stomach because I really wanted to see my future baby. I woke Norman up and he was like '5 more mins' and I said 'My appointment is at 11 and it's already almost 10:30 now we have to hurry..' and I went into Mingus' room and woke him up and he looked at me and said "IS SOMETHING WRONG?!" and I said "No. I just have another surprise for you." and we have to get to the place at 11 and we're fixing to be late if we don't hurry and get ready. He slugged out of bed and got dressed and was all excited. Norman was running a little behind and I said "Ya know, I'm pregnant and I can get ready faster than you." and he looked at me and laughed. Mingus was already halfway out the door and screaming COME ON WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!

We pulled up at the doctor's office and got out and we barely made it. 10:55 is what the clock read when we finally got into the building. I noticed it wasn't really crowded. A few sick people coughed and I saw some little kids playing with the toys they had set out. Reedus? The nurse called and I got up and they took me back and I laid on the exam table and Mingus was like "Is she sick? Is that why we're here?!" and Norman said "No son, just be patient." All of a sudden the doctor came in and asked questions. I calmly replied to each of them. Then she said "Okay lets take a look." and I bit my lip this is the moment I was waiting for. They turned out the lights and put the jelly on my expanding stomach. All of a sudden we saw the little human and Norman was holding my hand and smiling and I looked over and saw the baby and saw Mingus just staring at the screen. He was crying. I started to cry. We saw the little human for a while and the doctor said everything seemed to be okay. The doctor asked if we had any questions, and Mingus asked am I getting a baby brother or sister? The doctor tried to tell, but couldn't be sure. Sorry buddy, I can't really tell. It looks like a sister, but it's still to early to tell. In a few months we should be able to tell. We got some pictures and Norman couldn't wait to upload a picture to Instagram for all his fans to see, he shared the news about the baby by taking a picture of the pregnancy tests and posting them on Instagram with the caption 'Came home from an awesome weekend to this! #Excited ❤' ' He decided he had to take a picture to show what he was up to today. He waited til he got home and then laid me on the bed and with my stomach exposed and Mingus with his hand on my belly holding the ultrasound photos with the caption 'My girl and my son and my ? ❤'' and he posted a tweet saying "Today my son got to see his brand new sibling and the next time he visits we find out what we're having! #Excited" He asked his followers "Tweet me with what you think we're having and name ideas!" He got a lot of replies, some of them were rude and directed towards me. He started blocking hateful fans who said they hoped you lost the baby' and 'Leave her because the baby isn't yours!'


	2. I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing

In between the time we took Mingus to see his little sibling and now I was expanding and it was getting tougher to do stuff I used to do. I was already 4 months pregnant and I was so tired and exhausted and then the phone rang and Norman picked it up 'Hello? Yeah this is him. Oh really this weekend? I don't know if I can... uh' and I asked 'Norman what's wrong?' and he said 'Oh they want me to go to a convention this weekend.' I looked at him and then down at my belly and said 'Tell em you'll do it!' ... Norman said "Yeah I think I will be there. Thank you. Goodbye." and he looked at me and said "Ya know I really think I should stay here with you and I looked at him and said "Well... I was thinking we could go together?" and he looked at me and said "Babe... do you think that's such a good idea? You being pregnant and these crazy fangirls who want so much to be you and said nasty and hurtful things to you?" and I said, "Well, I was thinking normally if you go somewhere your buddy Sean goes right?" and he said "Yeah..." and I looked at him and said "Well, if anybody messes with me or this baby I got the Saints on my side." and he giggled at what I just said. "Plus, we haven't seen Sean in such a long while since you're always filming... or well you have seen him but I haven't and I want to surprise him." "Okay babe pack your bags because we need to head out tomorrow." Norman said. I went up to him and hugged him and realized how big of a gap was now between between us. He looked down at me and put both hands on my belly and I felt what I thought was a muscle spasm. Norman looked down at me and moved his hands and it happened again. He started to tear up. I looked at him and asked "Kick? Was that a kick?!" and he nodded his head. I started to cry and started moving his hands around trying to make the baby kick again and again. I was crying my eyes out. Pretty soon it was time to go to bed. We had a big day tomorrow and before we went to bed Norman called Mingus and said "Guess what buddy?!" and he said "What?!" .. "Your little brother or sister is talking now!" and I could hear Mingus scream "WHAT?! I'M MISSING IT! NO FAIR DAD!" and he said "Don't worry buddy next time you come over we figure out if you are having a brother or sister." I heard him scream "YAY! YES!" Before bed Norman tweeted out "Lil Reedus just started communicating with us a few moments ago! #UglyCrying ❤"

That night I tossed and turned I couldn't find a comfortable spot for my bump. Plus I had cravings and bathroom breaks. People weren't lying when they said all this stuff about pregnancy. Finally I got to sleep and about the time I closed my eyes they shot open at the sound of the alarm going off. Norman didn't really budge. I tapped him and said 'You gonna get up?' and he said 'Yeah just let me lay here for a few more mins.' I got up and took a shower and got dressed and ate some ice cream mixed with cereal and pickle juice (which is how I made breakfast now). I noticed Norman packing some stuff up and packed extra stuff for me like shoes and he packed almost all the pillows on the bed because he knew how those hotel beds felt. Okay, time to head out babe I heard him say. I hurried up and finished my breakfast and got into the car. Before he backed up I heard him say "You sure about this?" and I said "Positive" with a smile. Before he left he tweeted out "Looking forward to seeing all you nice fans in New Jersey!"

The drive there was long and tiring. I fell asleep for most of it and at stops for gas or food Norman snapped some pictures of me and Instagrammed them out with the caption "My Sleeping Beauty! ❤" and when we finally got to the hotel it was already dark so I went straight up to the bed (which was comfy) and went right to sleep with Norman's arms around you. The next morning the clock went off and Norman moaned and groaned and finally got out of bed and I started to open my eyes and he asked 'You getting up? After all this was your idea..' and I slowly got up cradling my swelled belly and got dressed and sprayed myself with perfume (since I didn't have time to shower). Off to the convention we went. We had to get there a few hours early to set up and figure out where everything was. Norman's booth was right next to Sean's as usual. Best part, it was right next to the bathroom and food court. 'Score!' I said to myself. I sat down in a chair cradling my belly when Sean was walking over and screamed out "Hey Reedenstein!" - "Flanery!" Norman shouted back. "Hey, just wanted to say congrats on the baby! How did you manage to come here by yourself?" and Norman was puzzled and looked over and saw me coming out of the bathroom "Well, actually uh.. she um" and about that time I snunk up behind Sean and grabbed him around the waist and he turned around and saw me and let his guard down. "Dang girl, I could have hurt you! You shouldn't be sneaking up on people like that!" and he glanced down at my shirt, which wasn't skin tight usually but my belly made it look skin tight. He said "Woah! You are fixing to explode!" and I said "Well, I'm only 4 months, but yeah I've been told that I look farther along.' I sat down as the guests were coming in and some of the girls in the line gave me nasty looks and and mouthed words like 'Die' and 'F*CK YOU' among other things. Some of the girls were very nice, they brought baby items and I was like 'Thanks. You didn't have to but thank you!'

The lines seemed to go on forever. I kinda wanted to wonder around, but I was tired and my feet hurt. I also didn't wanna run into any rude fans and get into a fight. Sean looked over, and started goofing off with Norman and then went back over to his booth and kept looking over and me. I mouthed the words 'What?' and he came over and started talking to me and heard my belly growl and said 'Hold on I'll be right back' and left and came back with a whole bunch of snacks. 'Thanks Sean! You're the best!' .. 'No problem' he said with a smile. 'Okay where were we ladies and gents?!' Sean said. I put my head down on the table and dozed off. I woke up to Norman and Sean standing over me asking if I was okay. 'Yeah, I'm fine just feeling tired. How do you guys do this day in and day out?' I asked. 'Yeah, it's a hard job, but it's for the fans.'

We got back to the hotel and Norman and Sean ordered pizza and we had a mini pizza party. It was fun. I loved seeing them both so happy. I rubbed my swollen belly and Sean came over and put his hand on my belly and felt the baby kick. 'Woah' he said 'You guys have a little soccer player on your hands here!' we all laughed about it. I ended up falling asleep a few mins later and woke up to Sean on the floor and Norman holding me. My perfect life was coming true.


	3. What's It Gonna Be

I survived the long weekend, and I was so ready to just be back in my own bed. I was so excited for the new week to begin, because this week was the week I had been waiting for the week when we finally figured out if we were having a little girl or a little boy. We stopped and got Mingus to spend a few weeks with him. I think he was more excited than we were he kept running up and rubbing my belly and saying that it didn't matter if it was his little sister or brother that he'd love either one. He told me secretly he kinda wanted a sister because that way if anybody said the wrong thing or did anything to her that he'd be able to punch them in the mouth and not feel bad about it.

That night I couldn't sleep. Just the thought of what tomorrow held made me wonder all night long, what if it was a boy or what if it was a girl? I kept telling myself 'I need sleep. This baby needs me to rest and it's not healthy to stay up when this little human needs me for sleep. Plus in a few months sleep would be a thing of the past.' Finally I looked over at the clock and saw it said 3:30 A.M. I had to be up at 9:00 and at the doctors by 10:30. I rolled over and buried my face in Norman's chest and he put his arms around me and I finally felt myself falling asleep. I got woken up in the morning by Mingus yelling 'HURRY UP! HURRY UP!' and I looked over at the clock and it was 8:30 and I ultimately decided to get up, to be honest I couldn't wait for breakfast it seemed the farther along I got the hungrier I became. I ate a little breakfast and got dressed. This was the moment I waited for.

We arrived at the doctors and we sat there for a couple minutes and I just tried to breathe normally. I was so excited for the news, I kind of wanted a little girl, but if I had a boy I'd love him just the same. Everybody around me honestly swore that I was having a girl and it made me happy. To be honest, Norman even wanted a little girl. I could picture him with her and all the wacky adventures they would get into together. I walked calmly, as I could into the office and signed in and breathed in a deep breath. 'Reedus' the nurse called out. I didn't notice at first until Norman was helping me up and then I snapped back into reality. I got asked questions like 'How have you been feeling?' - 'Anything new happen?' and other questions and then the doctor came in and let me see my baby. I started crying and then everybody was trying to calm me down. All of a sudden I heard Mingus ask 'So am I getting a little sister or a brother?' and I spoke up and said 'Could you just write it down on a piece of paper and then on the ride home we could get cupcakes and have them put either blue or pink frosting on them and then we wait til we get home to eat them and see what we're having?' He laughed at me and I said 'What? I'm hungry I can't help it.'

We left and went to go get some cupcakes and Norman's phone rang and he was like 'Hey! How are you? Yeah I'm doing okay just got out of the doctors and fixing to find out what we're having. What? You're coming over? Okay. I'll meet you at the apartment in a few minutes.' I looked at him and he said 'Oh that was Sean he said he wanted to come visit. I hope it's okay.' I smiled and said 'Sure! The more people the better I guess.' 'Alright I'll be right back.' Norman said. A few minutes later he came out with a bunch of cupcakes wrapped up in a nice box and you couldn't tell what color they were. I was getting impatient. We got to the apartment and Sean was standing out by his car and helped me out of the car. We got to the apartment and I was so jittery to figure it out and Norman said 'Wait I want to get a picture of the box before you destroy it' and I said 'Okay but hurry up!' He took the picture and uploaded it to Instagram with the caption 'Here we go... about to find out what we're having!' and I went over and basically ripped open the box and felt tears filling my eyes while I looked at the frosting.. the pink frosting. I was looking at Norman with tears in my eyes and crying and shaking. He took a quick picture and uploaded it with the caption 'IT'S A GIRL! #DaddysLittleGirl #InLove' I handed everybody a cupcake and Mingus whispered in my ear 'I told you I was getting a little sister!' and I hugged him so tightly even though he wasn't mine I was so happy he accepted me and I was so amazed at how adult he was through this whole thing.

After everybody ate most of the cupcakes, I sat on the couch watching whatever seemed interesting. Mingus had curled up next to my belly. Norman gave him some pictures of his little sister and took a picture and posted it with the caption 'My three loves in my life. Plus my son with his little sister. My life is perfect! I'm finally complete!' Later all three of us drifted off to sleep.


	4. Oh Love

It was already September which meant I was already 7 months along in my pregnancy. It also meant that I couldn't travel that much, which really sucked because for weeks at a time meant that Norman would be gone for work and I had to stay home, but it wasn't really all that bad while he was away my best friend and her boyfriend at the time stayed with me. It was fun for a while, up until a few weeks ago when my friend's sorry ass boyfriend up and left her alone with me and took off to go back home. I felt so bad for her, because after all this she had to stay with me, who really couldn't do to much because of my huge belly.

After about a week of just us girls here Norman came home and I explained the whole situation about what happened since he noticed one person was missing. He ended up siding with me on this whole situation and agreed that my friend could stay for as long as she wanted, because it wasn't her fault that her boyfriend took off. Plus we weren't going to let her go back knowing that it would probably get ugly or something else would happen and we couldn't let that happen.

As time when on, it was harder to get up and move due to my already extended belly. Technically I was supposed to be on bed rest since the last time we went to the doctor they said some complications came up. I tried my best to follow all of the orders, but sometimes if I saw something that was in my area I tried to help out, just because I was on bed rest I didn't think any harm could come from this. Every time Norman saw me trying to reach for anything he'd grab it up before I got the chance and hand it to me and said 'If you need anything I'll get it for you, you shouldn't be trying to strain yourself.' I looked up at him and said 'Thanks I'll try to remember that.' He bent down and gave me a kiss on the forehead and I gasped and he looked down at me with a worried look and I said 'Sorry this lil girl is kicking harder and harder every day.' and he rubbed and kissed my belly and whispered 'Hey daddy's lil girl. Take it easy on your mommy okay?' I giggled a little.

Later on that night as the sun was going down, I'd enjoy sitting out on the balcony and just soak in the last rays of the sun. When it got dark and the whole place was lit up, it was amazing. As a country girl, I was always amazed at the beautiful sights of NYC. Shortly after Norman would come out and say 'Dinners ready I know that little girl is hungry so come on.' I'd sit there for a little while longer and just stare into space, and the one thing that brought me out of my 'trance' was the hard kicks. Norman would come over and pick me up and I'd jokingly play hit him and say 'Put me down. I can walk. Trust me.' and he would say 'Nope, you know what the doctors said.' with a laugh.

During dinner I would always come up with new food combos that would gross everybody else out at the table. Tonight it was pickles and pudding. Norman would look at me and joke around saying 'You're cravings and stuff are getting weird.' I'd look at him with my mouth full of food and swallow the stuff down and say 'Well, I can't help what this cutie wants and I really can't deny her anything.' He'd just look at me with a weird look and say 'Whatever she wants and its safe I guess she can have.' I'd just smile at him. Shortly after we would get ready for bed and switching from my stretch pants to pajama pants was getting harder to do. Plus my shirts were getting tighter and tighter some nights I'd either just sleep in a bra or Norman would give me one of his shirts. Another area where it was getting harder to function in was during sex. Most nights I was just to tired to do anything and I felt bad because Norman really wanted to do something and I'd turn around and say 'Not tonight'. For the most part when in all the months we'd managed to keep a semi-active sex life.

As soon as I got into bed most nights I would try to find a comfortable place and go straight to sleep. Norman would get into bed and I'd curl into his side and he'd rub my belly and if I wasn't already asleep I'd drift off. During the night my shirt would come up and show my belly off. Plus I'd roll over onto Norman's side of the bed when he would get up in the middle of the night. Cravings didn't stop so occasionally I'd wake up and as per Norman's request I'd wake him up and ask for more pudding and pickles. He'd get up all groggy and sleepy and bring me some pickles back and a pudding cup. I couldn't picture having a baby with anybody else at this point.


	5. I'll Be There For You

I woke up the following morning to the sound of the phone ringing and Norman was already up and about and picked it up and I heard him say a few words and he hung up the phone and came into the bedroom and said 'Hey honey I'm going to go pick up Mingus and I'll be back in a few minutes. You need anything while I'm out?' and I shook my head no. He kissed me and gave my belly a little rub and kissed it and looked at me puzzled. I asked him if anything was wrong and he said 'I guess the munchkin isn't awake yet'. I shook my head and said she kicked me until about 3 or 4 this morning. Which was about her normal time to slow down and sleep.

Shortly afterwards I was awoken by the sound of the door opening and then I heard the bedroom door swing open and all of a sudden Mingus ran in and gave me a big hug and looked at my belly and said 'So my sister still isn't here yet? This is taking way to long'. He started pouting and then hugged my belly and said 'Hey sissy what's taking so long? You're gonna wait until I'm here right? Please.' At that time I felt a big kick and Mingus looked at me and almost cried. I was kinda wishing this little bundle would hurry up and get here because I was so uncomfortable. Sleeping was one of the few times I was comfy, but it took forever to get into a comfy spot.

That day we mainly sat around playing board games and watching movies. My friend was still with us so of course we had to have the awkward introductions between her and Mingus. I think they hit it off, perfectly they started talking about movies and shows. I sat around and rubbed my belly. I kinda zoned out and Norman looked at me and asked if I was okay, and I looked at him and said 'Yeah...' but in reality I didn't feel quiet right. We kept playing until I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back I sat down in quiet. Dinner wasn't that far off and Norman was debating on if we were gonna eat in or call in an order and the local Japanese place. We ultimately decided to order out.

During dinner I didn't really eat that much and everybody noticed it and I got up to go get dressed for bed and I found my clothes for the evening and curled up in bed in a tiny ball and clinched my stomach and tried to keep from crying. I didn't want to get everybody all worried and after a few minutes Norman came in and saw me clutching onto my stomach crying. He ran over to me and asked what was wrong and I said that my stomach was cramping. He went over and rubbed my belly and felt the baby kicking really hard. He asked me a few questions and Mingus came in and looked at me and at his dad and asked 'Dad is she okay? What's wrong? Is my baby sister on her way? I didn't mean right now.' Norman looked at him and said 'No, I don't think so I think its just faux contractions. They hurt like hell and plus when a baby is kicking really hard I don't think it helps.'

After they didn't stop for an hour we decided it would be best to go to the ER. I cried the whole way there. Everybody was trying to calm me down and I snapped at everybody. Norman especially. I cussed him out and told him that no matter what he said or did we would never have sex again. We got there and they quickly took me back. They asked me tons of questions like how far along I was, how long these cramps had gone on, and if I had any unusual things happen such as bleeding and everything else. They did a whole examination and said what Norman thought was the case, faux contractions. They asked if my water broke and things like that. They made me stay for a few hours, to make sure it wasn't full blown labor.

The doctors told me from what it looks like now, I could go into labor any minute. Which made me super uneasy, because Norman had a convention and filming to attend in a few weeks. Norman quickly called and told everybody what the doctors said and they said they completely understood and told him to just return to work when he was able to. I loved how he put his family first. I fell asleep and had my hand over his and on my belly and he took a picture of our hands onto my belly and uploaded it to Instagram with the caption 'So Baby Reedus gave us a lot of trouble today. Please keep us in your thoughts.' After a few hours I was woken up by Norman carrying me to the apartment bedroom. I didn't really know how long it had been but I was happy to be home. The doctors told me that the faux contractions could last for a few hours or days or even weeks.

I woke up the next morning late in the afternoon, and wondered why Norman and everybody let me sleep. I needed help getting out of bed, and my best friend was the only person to help me. I asked her puzzled 'Where's Norman? Mingus?' and she replied 'Norman went to the store, he said you were low on pudding cups and pickles. Mingus is in his room playing video games, typical boy I guess.' She secretly let me do things when Norman wasn't home, but ever since last night, she helped me out a lot. I went to go walk to do something and she stopped me and said 'Get back into bed, before I call Norman and tell him what you're doing!' I looked at her and said sarcastically 'Oh so we're 5 years old now?' She looked at me in the eyes and said 'Sorry, but as your friend I care deeply about you.' A few minutes later Norman came through the door and had a bag filled with pudding cups and pickles. He came into the room and found me laying in bed about to fall asleep and said 'Hey sweetie I got you some stuff.' I looked at him and said 'Thanks what would I ever do without you?' He came over and kissed me and rubbed my belly and felt his lil girl kick and looked at me and said 'Woah she's gonna be an All Star soccer star before she's even born.' I looked at him and said 'Yeah, I'll be happy when she gets here cause she's hurting me.'

Dinner went off without a hitch, frozen pizzas where on tonight's menu. I enjoyed any food now a days, this baby made me crave food all the time. Norman noticed I wasn't eating to much pudding tonight so he thought something was wrong. I told him nothing was wrong. I got into my pajamas and sat down on the couch and started flipping through the channels and found one of my favorite shows of all times Bobs Burgers. I started laughing and Norman came in and asked what was so funny and when he saw Bobs Burgers he said 'I don't get why you enjoy that show so much, I mean it funny but still.' I looked at him and said 'Eh, some people don't get the awesomeness of this show. I fell asleep as Norman was doing the dishes and he came over and woke me up and said that it was bedtime. I let him carry me to the bedroom, maybe this carrying thing wasn't so bad after all.


	6. Miracle

It was a few weeks after the hospital visit and I was feeling a little bit better and getting used to the pain, knowing in a few short months that I would be in serious pain I counted my blessings. I ended up sleeping until about 2 in the afternoon. I noticed the apartment was unusually quiet, so I tried to see if anybody was home.. and nobody replied. I tried my best to get up and started to creep out of the bedroom, holding my belly, and walked and noticed what sounded like Call of Duty: GHOSTS coming from behind the door of Mingus' room. I was about to open the door when I heard the front door start to open, so I hurried back to the bedroom and mistakenly tripped over Eye. I caught myself before I hit the floor but it hurt like hell. After that I just sat in the floor, and waited for the 'I told you so's' to start, but Mingus stuck his head out of the door and saw me and ran over to me and asked what happened, about that time who I thought was Norman came in was actually Sean for a visit and saw Mingus sitting on the floor. He looked at us both and saw me with my hands on my belly and breathing hard. He was all panicked and asked 'What happened?!' 'Did you fall?!' I managed to choke out 'Yes..' and told him that I was in a lot of pain. He carried me to the couch and tried to make me as comfortable as he could until I started screaming. He called Norman for a second opinion and when Norman heard me screaming and crying he said it would be best to go ahead and take me to the local hospital and I started grabbing for the phone and I tried my best to talk after a few words I heard Norman say 'Just breathe. Breathe. I'm on my way okay?' I cried and managed to choke out 'Okay... I'm scared.'

When we got to the hospital they took us back and asked what had happened and Sean had to explain it because I was in so much pain. They ran a bunch of tests and said that it might have caused me to go into labor so they had to give me an exam to figure out if I was in labor. I finally got the answer that I wasn't but it was more strain on my belly and back. I almost burst into tears when Norman rushed in and asked me if I was okay. I still couldn't really speak but I managed to reply 'Yeah, I think they said she's fine just kinda moved her in a way that she shouldn't have moved. They said it was a miracle that I didn't go into labor!' He sat down next to me and just rubbed my belly until I winced in pain. He noticed I had a light bruise on my right side and it looked like it went to my lower back. 'How did you end up doing this?' he asked shocked. I looked up at him and said 'Well, I woke up and didn't know if anybody was home and nobody replied so I got up to see if anybody was home, and I got to Mingus's room and heard his video games and then I heard what I thought was you coming into the door and I tried to hurry back to bed because I didn't want the whole 'The doctors said...' and I turned around and kinda tripped over Eye but I caught myself before I hit the ground.' He looked at me and said 'I know it was an accident and I still love you but promise me next time you need to figure out if anybody is around you'll try to call first.' I smiled and grabbed his hand and put it on my belly, and said 'I promise.' The doctors finally released me about 7 hours later. I was exhausted and hungry and just wanted to get home. My best friend didn't say much to me, the whole ride home, but I knew she was scared for me.


	7. No Surprise

It was almost the end of September and start of October, and my due date was in November, so we decided that we'd have my baby shower (even though I fought against it every step of the way) I gave in. We planned on having 1 and planned on having it in the apartment since I really couldn't be bothered to even go out places anyways. My friend helped me figure out who to invite, of course Norman's close friends were coming I didn't really have any friends that I could call my own. I managed to get all the invitations wrote out within a few days with a little help. Norman managed to call almost everybody on the list and surprisingly most said they'd be able to make it. I was surprised, but I still sent out the invites in the mail and stressed that all the gifts should be under a $100 because we had almost everything we needed and all the big items we go pretty early on. We had a few days to prepare for everything and since most of the things were taken care of for the time being.

I was counting down the days until sleep would be a thing of the past and I was kinda upset but this little human needs my attention and I had help in case I ever needed a break. I didn't want to make other people take care of my child for me while I tried to do things unless it was much needed. I had an appointment a few days before the party and I was actually happy about it I wanted more than anything to hold my daughter right now but it took time. I was actually counting down the days til November. I tried to figure out how long it was before Norman would have until he needed to go back to work which was going to have to happen, but the good news was that we could atleast possibly go together if everything was checked out to be okay with our daughter. I knew that sometimes we wouldn't be able to do it, and that's what made me sad that possibly some of the biggest things in her life he would miss.

It was a few days later and it was the day of the party, and I had to get up early because of a doctors appointment. I heard the clock go off and then heard it shut off and heard Norman get out of bed and I just laid there because I didn't wanna get up, I was so comfy.. I heard him start to get dressed and he walked over to me and said 'Come on its time to get up...' and I just pretended to be sleeping and he bent down to my face and said 'I know you're not sleeping get up or we'll be late' I looked up at him and said 'I'm to comfy and the baby's sleeping.. can we just..' and he bent back down and rubbed my belly and said 'Sweetie wake up and make your mommy get up' I lightly pushed his shoulder and said 'Shh she's not gonna listen to you haha' I ultimately decided to get up. I got ready and was out the door. My best friend in tow we were off. We got to the doctors and shortly after we were called back. They went through the common questions and things. I told them about the 2 hospital visits and everything. They did an exam and said everything looked normal, plus the ultrasound went really good I started to cry when the doctor said she should start to get into the position to be born. This was real, it was really happening.

Later on that day I had my baby shower. I was surprised to see everybody and all the gifts, ahh there were so many people. I sat down in a chair as everybody filed in. It was total chaos but I was excited no less. Norman greeted everybody who showed up. I wondered if my little buddy would be here since a few days ago he went back to his mom's house. My best friend sat next to me and was talking to me as I was watching the door. She was really excited for me. It sucked that she was left in New York while her husband went back to LA leaving here here alone luckily we were here for her. I noticed a few of Norman's castmates Andrew, Melissa, and Michael and Emily walking over to put gifts down and walk over to see me. I smiled. I didn't know really want to say to everybody who showed up. I looked at the door and my eyes met Helena at the door. I was surprised when she walked in with a gift and shortly behind her I saw Mingus Norman gave both a hug. I was so surprised to see her, which was not really shocking since we both got along fine. I just didn't think she'd stay. I saw both put the gifts down and walk over to me. They both smiled at me and sat down. I was reluctant to let people put their hands on my belly besides a few people and they knew that but they were some of the few people I didn't think twice about. They both felt the baby kick and smiled. 'I can't believe how big you are, you sure you're only having 1? You look big enough for twins haha.' Helena laughed. I laughed and said 'Pretty sure out of all the ultrasounds they only saw one and I only feel 1 set of feet. I don't know I went with Norman around 4 months to a convention in Jersey and Sean saw me and it was his first time seeing my belly and asked how far I was and he thought I was farther along.'

Shorty after everybody arrived and said 'Congrats' to us, it was time to open the presents. I started to open every gift and was surprised at all the items we got. Mainly clothes but we also got other things she could use like stuffed animals. My main concern was stuff for her since I had all the items I was planning on using. It was super fun and I loved that everybody was able to show up since most of them had other stuff going on that was way more important. I loved all the stuff and had to find a place for everything. Most of the guests instagramed the whole celebration. Everybody had fun. It was getting late so we thanked all the guests for coming and started putting stuff away. Emily gave me a big hug before she left and touched my belly and looked at me and said 'Good luck' and I smiled and said 'Thanks.. Oh by the way I love your music and um I listened to it a few weeks ago and my daughter really enjoyed it I think... she fell asleep so I guess that means it was good? Haha.' She looked at me and said 'Awe. When she gets here call me I'd love to meet her as soon as she's born.' I turned around and noticed Mingus and his mom carrying stuff into the baby's room and walked in and everybody was helping put stuff away. I didn't really have to do anything.

About an hour later I was getting ready for bed and said my goodbyes. I crawled into bed and Norman came into the bedroom and saw that I was still awake. He crawled into bed and he asked me if anything was wrong and I said 'No, but I felt weird all day.' He looked at me and asked 'Why? Something happen?' I looked at him and said 'Well, I could be wrong but it feels like she's lower than she used to be.. I didn't make a scene so I kept quiet.' He rubbed my belly and said 'It's only a matter of time now you know that right?' I replied 'Yeah..I'm just scared and nervous?' He asked me why and I replied 'Because I'm not sure I'm sure I'm really do be a mom and I don't know if I'll be a good mom.' He cupped my cheeks and said 'Listen to me right now you're going to be an amazing mother. This baby is going to love you and you're going to raise this lil girl and she's going to look up to you and it's gonna be amazing' I started crying and just put my arms around his neck and cried. I looked into his eyes and said 'I needed that..'

He said 'I need to get something hold on one second.' I looked at him weird and he went and got something and looked at me and got into bed and looked at me and handed me the bag and said 'I know you didn't want anything and there was a price limit but I wanted to get you something..' I looked at him and said 'Eh okay?' I opened the bag and there was a small box in it and I looked at it and then at him. He looked down and then looked at me as I pulled the box out and opened it only to find a ring box and I looked at him in utter shock 'Uh... seriously?! I didn't ever think you'd get married I mean...' and he kissed me and I opened it and started crying it was just a simple ring nothing fancy, but it was still something. He looked at me and said 'I love you with all my heart. I know you want to get married, it's a promise ring which is my way of saying that I'll love you forever. You've changed my views and I'm not getting any younger nothing against you. I just don't know why you picked someone my age when there are plenty of guys out there your age who are more attractive than me.' I looked at him and said 'I'm in love with you. Plus did I mention I'm attracted to you. You make me laugh, smile, everything about you I find attractive. I'm not staying with you because of this baby, we get along and like the same things. It doesn't matter if marriage doesn't happen. Honestly I could care less about that. I love you and your son like he's my own.'

We both ended up going crying ourselves to sleep. I was hugged up to him as close as I ever did. We were in this together and I hoped this feeling lasted forever.


	8. False Alarms

I woke up the next morning curled up beside Norman and wrapped in his arms. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was 10 AM. I nuzzled my face into his chest and I heard him stir in his sleep. I kissed his chest and he almost woke up, and I put my hands on my belly and felt little bumps and I thought maybe she had hiccups. I kept laughing and Norman woke up and asked me what I was laughing at and I told him that it felt weird and he looked at me and said 'I guess it does haha.'

It was late and it was bedtime and I crawled into bed and waited on Norman to get into bed and as soon as he did I began kissing him and pulling at his shirt and he broke the kiss and looked at me and I bit my lip when he asked what I wanted... we went back to it before and I managed to get his shirt off and he pulled my shirt over my head and it went into some of the best sex we had this whole pregnancy.. I tried to suppress my moans. I kinda hoped that since this was kind of rough that something would cause my water to break.. afterwards we collapsed and it didn't work. I fell asleep snuggled up to Norman but some how I woke up to Norman's head on my chest with his mouth open and tongue out.. I glanced down and noticed the marks which I know Norman put there on purpose. I brushed his hair out of his eyes and heard him moan. I then heard a knock on our bedroom door and a voice on the other side say 'Dad?' and the door open slowly... I pushed Norman's head off me and pulled the covers up to my neck making sure everything was fully covered when Mingus walked in. His dad woke up in a groggy state and he said 'Hey dad!' and Norman replied 'Whats up lil man?' rubbing his head trying to get his hair straight. Mingus said 'Can we go to the park today? Like everybody?' Norman replied 'Sure thing buddy we'll leave in a few hours okay?' and he said 'OKAY!' in an excited tone and left the room shutting the door. Norman looked at me as I let my breath out. 'What?' he said and I slightly pulled the covers down to show him one of the marks and to show I didn't have anything on. 'OH!' was all he could say besides 'You think he saw anything? You think he knew?' I shook my head no and said 'He almost walked in... I had to shove your head off before he came in.'

We got ready for the park and I was kinda happy to see somewhere else besides the apartment for a little while. We got there and Norman helped me to a bench and my friend sat down next to me. Norman kissed my forehead and said 'Behave!' I giggled and said 'Okay' with a sigh. I saw Norman and Mingus tossing a football back and forth. I smiled and rubbed my belly, our daughter was being unusually calm today with only a few hard kicks here and there. My friend looked at me and said 'I'm really happy for you. You really deserve this. You and Norman make a cute couple.' I looked at her and said 'Thanks that means a lot to me really.' She acted really weird around me and I asked if anything was wrong and she said 'Oh nothing... haha' I looked at her and said 'What?!' She said 'Oh its nothing forget it haha' I looked at her and said in a serious tone 'What? Tell me!' She said 'Well... I heard everything lastnight.. every word. You guys were really loud lastnight.' I looked in her eyes and saw she was being truthful. I blushed and tried my best to hide my face. I looked over at Norman walking over all sweaty. He saw me and asked if anything was wrong and I said 'Oh nothing... I'll tell you later.'

Later that night we sat down to dinner and we ate. I stayed long after everybody else did, this baby was really hungry tonight. Norman walked over and asked me if I was done with my plate and I shook my head yes. I tried my best to get to the bedroom but I just needed to sit down. Norman walked over and saw me on the couch and asked if anything was wrong. After he saw that I was falling asleep on the couch he said 'Hold on one minute I have to wash the dishes.' After he finished the dishes he picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. I looked at him with sleep in my eyes. He said 'So what was up with you today at the park?' I replied 'Well lastnight my best friend heard everything...which means your son probably heard it to.' He looked at me surprised.

I woke up and went to check my emails and noticed an article with Norman's name and clicked on it. Just because we were dating doesn't mean I didn't enjoy reading some of the articles written about him. In big bold letters I read the article's title : Is Norman Reedus engaged? As I read the articles I came across quotes like 'A source close to the couple says this was a real surprise.' 'It happened during the baby shower. He really loves her and she really loves him so they decided to take it to the next level.' I sat there looking at the picture of the promise ring Norman Instagramed and had my hand over my mouth when Norman walked in and asked what was wrong. I showed him the article and he looked at me surprised.

Norman had an interview he was doing from home because he didn't want to leave me for one second. The interviewer was really nice I listened to it as I sat in bed. 'Please welcome the one the only Norman Reedus' the interviewer stated. 'Pleased to be here' Norman stated.

Interviwer: So, you're working hard on several movies and one of the biggest shows on TV right now how does it feel?

Norman: It's surreal. I mean to see so many people tune in each week and that the audience keeps getting bigger and bigger. There's so many parents who tweet me photos of their young kids watching it's amazing.

Interviwer: Speaking of kids, Congrats on the little girl on the way.

Norman: Thanks. It was really amazing coming home from a long weekend away from my girlfriend and surprising her with gifts and she saying she had a surprise for me and brought out about 10 pregnancy tests all reading positive. My son was really on board from the start, he keeps talking to her (girlfriend's) belly asking his sister to stay put until he gets to stay over. Haha.

Interviewer: Very cute. Speaking of girlfriend, word on the street is you finally decided to settle down is this true?

Norman: Well... I think this girl is the one for me I mean from the very start we clicked. There's something there I can tell you that. As far as engagements go... *breathes* I would have to give all the fans a yes awnser.

Interviewer: Amazing. You heard it here first ladies. He's off the market. So we're gonna read some fan questions from Twitter is that alright?

Norman: Sure. Send some my way.

Interviewer: So this person wants to know if you guys have a name picked out for your daughter yet. Kinda personal but we all want to know.

Norman: Well, we talked about it and were going to name her Miracle but we're looking at changing that up. We don't really know yet. We've got a few more weeks to figure this out. If you've got any ideas feel free to tweet them to me.

Interviewer: This other question is about Walking Dead. Do we see Daryl with a love interest this season?

Norman: Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I'm under contract not to spill to much.

Interviewer: Another fan question you probably get a lot now. So when will you be attending conventions again?

Norman: I've wrestled with this for a while now. Ever since we had our first scare with the baby almost dying I kinda took it easy and a few weeks ago we had a major one where we were lucky my best buddy (Sean) in the whole wide world came over and was able to get to the hospital after my girlfriend fell. I'm not doing anything now until my daughter is about 3 or 4 months. If the doctors say she's healthy enough to travel I will probably end up traveling with my family.

Interviewer: Hopefully everything checks out with your girl and daughter. We're wishing you the best. Thanks for joining us.

Norman: So glad to have had the chance. Keep up the great work.

Norman finished the interview and walked over to me. I was crying. 'You said... What? Why?' He looked into my eyes and grabbed my hands and put em over my belly. What you said really stuck with me. Like I said I'm not getting any older. I really love you. You mean the world to me. I know you said you don't love me just because of this baby you were right. All of my other girlfriends didn't get me like you do. We fight and we make up. We always talk about our problems which says a lot about you. If you don't want this I'm not gonna force this upon you. I looked into his eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck and cried. 'YES! YES! YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES! I will marry you!'

The following day it was all over the gossip sites. I couldn't help but smile, I felt like I was dreaming. Norman's phone kept ringing with friends calling to say 'Congrats' and everything. I was a little worried about what Helena would say but she called and was happy. She told me at the baby shower that she really liked me. I was proud to have her blessing at this special time. I didn't understand why Norman chose me to spend the rest of his life with.

I kept 'nesting' and moving stuff from place to place. Some of the items went in the weirdest places. I insisted that the crib be put in the bedroom because I knew I wanted my baby close to me. I kept asking questions about where things should be. I wanted things in one place one day and the next I changed it. I think I annoyed everybody because after moving things back and forth Norman asked me to make up my mind. I also kept taking his keys and putting them in random places.

We both enjoyed our Instagrams and it certainly kept us entertained. We were looking through our feeds and I stopped at the one Sean posted with him and Norman with their hands and heads next to my belly and acting surprised with the caption 'So proud to be in these 2 crazy kids lives. I knew this was a long time coming but I can't wait for them to say their vows and also to see their kids! Congrats you two!' 'I can't believe he posted this haha.' I started reading the comments and noticed some of them were nice and really positive but more were negative and rude. 'She doesn't deserve him. She's a cheater. With them being split for weeks at a time she had to sleep with someone else. He deserves someone better' read one. Another one 'That's definitely not his baby. I don't know who's stupider HER or him. She just needs someone with money to help her raise her child. I can't wait til she's found out.' I broke down and cried I threw my phone to the side, thankfully it didn't fall on the floor. Norman crawled over to me and grabbed me and had me in a hug saying over and over 'Don't listen to them. Trust me all they want is to see you cry. They aren't worth it. I know the truth and they just want to start drama. Please don't cry. Please don't.' I looked at him and he wiped my tears away. I ended up commenting on it saying 'Thanks buddy! We are really thankful for your help all along. Especially for the other day. If you weren't there it could have been more horrible than what happened. Thanks for all you've done. Can't wait for our daughter to meet her uncle! xoxo'

Afterwards Norman posted a photo in celebration with the two of us and our most recent ultrasound photo with the caption 'I have decided to settle down and couldn't choose anybody else to spend my life with. I've got a beautiful wife to be. A handsome son. A beautiful daughter who is due within a few weeks! I'm one lucky guy. Best wishes!' I started laughing at he asked what happened and I said 'That was really cheesy. But I love you no matter what.' He smiled and kissed me. He looked down at my belly and asked 'So when do you think she's going to get here? Tomorrow? Next week?' I looked down and said 'We're on her time now. It's not about us anymore. Whenever she wants to show her little face as much as we want it soon she'll make that choice soon.' He looked at me and said 'Why do you always have to say inspirational stuff like that all the time. You make me emotional when you do that.' 'Well, I'm sorry I try to stay positive plus I need you to be strong during this time.' I said. He grabbed up my book I was reading about pregnancy and noticed I had a few pages marked. 'Why are these marked?' He asked opening to the ones that had the paper. 'Eh just because they are important and some of them I need to read a little bit more on. Plus some I needed you to read.' He opened one about the do's and don't do's after. 'I know most of these things I do have a son remember' he said. 'Just need to refresh your brain since a lot goes on in there.' I said as I pushed his head. He flipped through again and read the part about sex during pregnancy and everything. 'Seriously? You want me to read this? Haha. You trying to tell me something?' I shook my head and tried not to laugh. He put the book down and attacked me with tickles. 'Stop...please...' I managed to get out as I laughed. 'Nope. You asked for it.' Norman said. 'Stop... I'm gonna...pee myself if you don't stop.' I yelled. Norman let me up and I grabbed a pillow off the bed and hit him with it. 'Now whos in control?! Haha.' I said as I leaned down on the bed.

That night we ate left overs since nobody in the house could be bothered to cook. I managed to find stuff that I wanted to eat. I ate a more than I ate the previous day. I finished after everybody else. I carried my dish to the sink and put the dish down. I leaned on the counter and my friend looked over at me and started asking 'Whats wrong?!' I looked at her with a worried look in my eyes. 'Oh nothing she just kicked really hard. She hasn't kicked this hard in a while.' My friend helped me to a chair. Norman came in and ran over to me asking my friend what happened. She explained what happened. Norman asked if I needed to go to the hospital and I shook my head no and let out a light gasp. She stopped kicking as hard as she was but kept kicking. I wished she'd get here soon because I loved her but she kept hurting me. I looked at the clock and saw it was about 9 PM. I asked Norman if he could carry me to bed maybe if I lay down she'd stop. We got ready for bed and I laid in bed crying. Norman got of the bed and picked me up and said 'Come on we're going to the hospital.' I looked at him and told him 'I'm not crying because of her. Its just I keep thinking about that stuff those fans said it keeps playing in my mind.' 'Don't worry about them. They don't know what is going on in our lives. Think about all the positive things not negative.' He wrapped his arms around me and I fell asleep. He was my knight in shining armor.


	9. The Distance

It was closing in on the middle of my 8th month of pregnancy and it was October. I tried to do things since the doctor said as long as I wasn't straining myself I should be okay. I begged Norman to go to the season 5 premiere party without me. 'I don't think within a few days that she's going to make her appearance.. GO! You need to be there. Everybody is counting on you being there plus we're in good company' I said pointing to my best friend who was reading a book in the living room. She looked up and smile and assured Norman that we'd be fine and if anything came up he would get a call. He finally broke down and said he would go. It was a few days off so we still had time to spend together. I noticed in the last few weeks everything set me off. I'd just cry and cry until my face was super red. Norman did his best to calm me down, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. He wasn't the kind of person to just say 'Let her cry it out.'

I heard Norman on the phone the next morning after I cried almost all night over something.. I honestly can't remember because it was so stupid. 'I love her I really do. I understand that she's a different person so she's going to have her own things that make her break down but she cries over the weirdest things. Like the other day she cried because she gave Eye to much food in his bowl and it spilled over the edges. I mean I told her it wasn't a big deal and she kinda stopped crying. Lastnight she was folding clothes and went to go put some on the table and her arm hit a stack of towels and they fell to the floor and she cried over it for like 2-3 hours straight. I love her with all my heart. I wish I could help her out but I don't know what to do.' [Person on phone talks] 'Yeah man I'm trying my best. I want to be with her 24/7 but she wants her space and I'm going to the premiere party because she wants me to.. I feel so bad leaving her like this but she wants it and I know the second I leave out that door she's going to beg me to stay. I'm torn. Her friend is staying with her, but 2 women in apartment building in NYC I'm kinda iffy about that. You wanna come down and make sure everything goes okay? I'll pay for the food and stuff if you want me to. Actually food I'll stock up what do you guys enjoy?' [Person on phone talks] Sure I'll buy some of that. It will be like a 5 day thing at the most. Any special drinks? I know you're a health nut so I probably don't have all the stuff you want. [Person on phone talks] Haha yeah I'll try to pick that up. Anything else? Oh before I forget she eats whatever she can get her hands on. Normally its pickles and pudding, I don't understand how she can eat that stuff but it seems like the stuff she enjoys. Try not to change things up on her alright? I'll pay you if you want it for having to come all the way here just for her. [Person on the phone talks] Alright see you Tuesday Sean! Catch ya later!

I crept out of the bedroom as soon as I heard him get off the phone. He looked at me with one hand on my back and one on my belly and an 'Awe' escaped his mouth. 'Who was on the phone?' I asked. 'Oh just Sean he wanted to know a few things.' I looked at him and started to smile and looked down and said 'Why do you think that you can lie to me? Haha you're not a very good liar. Haha.' He looked down at the floor and up at me 'Its just... I know you and your friend can handle your own but in NYC there's a lot of bad people.. and uh.. *His eyes went back to the floor and slowly up at me* I want someone who can protect you guys if something bad does happen.' 'Norm there's bad people everywhere not here. I can't count how many robberies I heard on the local news about Nashville. But I love how you care about us so yeah if this is what you want then go for it.' 'I'm glad you're not fighting me on this.' he said pulling me into a hug as our daughter started kicking and Norman led me to the bed and we both laid down and he got down near my belly and said 'Listen sweetie daddy is going away for a few days as much as he doesn't want to mommy insists, uncle Sean is coming down but try to resist the urge to make your appearance until I get back okay?' I winced as she started kicking harder and Norman rubbed my belly and kissed it. Norman gave me and kiss and laid down beside me. 'I'm sorry' I uttered. 'Huh?' He said. 'I'm sorry for my crazy mood swings. I'm sorry that I cry over the slightest and silliest things.' He sat up and looked into my eyes and said 'Its okay trust me. You mean the world to me and this baby I'm not going to change myself if you promise not to. Be you and stay you don't change. I'm gonna be me and not change. Promise me.' I looked at him and said 'I promise.' He hugged me again. So what do you wanna do today? He said turning on the XBOX and handing me controller. I went to the Netflix app and put on Bobs Burgers. 'Haha should have known.' he said laughing.

It was a few days later and Norman had his bags all packed. Our daughter kept kicking as hard as she could and I wasn't able to hardly stand at all. I guess this was her way of saying 'Great Job mom...' and it was a few hours before Norman had to leave and we were talking and we heard a knock on the door. Norman got up and opened it and I saw Sean standing there. 'Hey Reedenstein!' he said as he embraced Norman in a hug. I guess he was there by himself because Norman said 'Hey where's the rest of the family?' and Sean said 'Eh they wanted to stay home. Partly because I guess the flu is going around and yeah everybody but yours truly has it. I'm good Reedus don't worry.' I tried to get up from the couch to walk to the door but the kicks hurt like a lot. Sean walked in and asked where he would be sleeping and we showed him where he would be sleeping. 'Sorry for the inconvenience but kinda had to take the extra guest room and make it into a nursery..' 'Totally understandable brother.' he said with a laugh. Norman's phone went off as he saw that the time was 3:30 in the afternoon. 'I guess I should be heading out guys.' We walked him to the door and I started crying. 'You sure you want me to do this? You understand that I might not be here if she comes this week right?' I looked up at him and said 'Yeah. I understand but the fans want to see you. Plus I bet she will be on time so next month.' We hugged and kissed and Norman gave his speech about him leaving. I didn't know how to feel mainly because it would be a week before that door opened up again. I smiled at Sean as I tried to keep calm until I went to the bedroom. As soon as that door closed I started crying my eyes out. I heard a knock on the door and I tried to act like I was busy and tried to sound okay 'Ho..Hold on please.' I opened the door to see my bestie at the door and asked if she could come in I let her in. 'What is wrong? Don't tell me nothing because I know that's a lie.' I looked down at the floor and looked up at her with tears in my eyes. 'Just this whole day. The second he left. I let him go, heck I begged him because I thought the fans would love the whole cast together even though 90% of the fangirls hate my guts because we're together and this baby. Hell, this baby isn't even born and doesn't even know who her daddy is and what he does and people still want stuff to happen to her. Heck, I went on Instagram the other day and looked at one of those surprise pictures that Norman posts and it was of my belly and the comments were... were horrible. This baby shouldn't have anything like that said about her, heck nobody should be told the things some fans said.' 'Well, you both are going to get hate and this lifestyle is going to be stressful but you're proving you care about other people by letting him go. I'm proud that no matter what you try to think of other people. You're always going to have people who disagree with what happens. I want you to know that you both have my support.' 'This lifestyle is getting to much for me. I knew what I was getting into and it's stressing me out. I know that he does this for a living and I understand he loves me and his kids I love him. I fight with him a lot and I know he doesn't deserve it.' 'You both deserve each other. I don't wanna jinx you but I know you both are there for each other. As for the fighting everybody fights but in the end you both make up and are smiles and happiness while others don't give each other the chance. Heck the other day was crazy you where so mad at whatever you were mad at we both don't even know pregnancy rage. I saw that both of you were fired up. You went one direction and he went the other. He was broken. I could see it in his eyes. He loves you. I remember that night you both made up and were back to joking around with each other in no time. Plus you fell asleep in his arms that night and he was so happy. Trust me no matter what happens that you both are going to break apart and come back together. Believe me. Work is going to happen didn't you say that after the baby if everything checks out that you're gonna be traveling with him? You should be happy about that right?' 'Yeah, I have to agree that we end up fighting and then come back together. I'm happy that he doesn't just kick me out like most guys I know. Yeah, we're going to try to travel it just depends since I don't want to leave to far from home in case we need to get her to the doctors. I think that it's going to be a few local trips nothing to far.' 'Well that's always good atleast you three with get some family time in. Trust me this life seems stressful and it probably is don't get me wrong but don't give up on him. Don't run because sooner or later it will be worse. If you ever need to talk you know where I'll be.' My friend was always good with words it was sad because some people didn't give her the time of day. Her advice was something I treasured.

Later on that night I finally came out of the bedroom and it was dinner time. I walked over to the table and got my plate of food plus my side dish. Everybody else was eating and I just played with my food with my fork. In the end I ate my food. I was depressed and hoped these days would just fly by. I got up from the table and went to take a bath. I loved just relaxing and the warm water made our little girl kick more but I actually enjoyed it. I heard Sean on the phone with someone and I couldn't really make out what he was saying. I ended up getting out of the tub and went to go get dressed in the bedroom. I looked down at my belly and rubbed it. I ended up digging out some pajama bottoms and one of Norman's shirts. Normally I'd just wear one of his shirts but yeah since his best friend was here I didn't think it was a good idea. Plus they weren't much dress sized at the moment. I heard a knock on the door and Sean peeked his head in and said 'Um Norman called and wants you to call him back. He said he just got back to his hotel room and yeah..' I smiled and grabbed my phone and saw 1 missed call. *dials number* I heard his voice on the other end 'Hey sweetie. How are you? How's the little one? Anything new happen? Sean said you started crying as soon as I left are you okay? What did you guys eat tonight? Okay, I'm gonna shut up now.' 'Haha. I'm okay, just sore I wish you were here cause my belly really needs your attention. Nah nothing new happened really, oh um our little one had hiccups most of today as cute as they are I wanna hear what they sound like haha. Yeah, I did cry but thankfully I had someone here who has a way with words. Eh tacos haha I couldn't hardly eat because I miss you so much.' 'Awe you miss me really haha? I miss you two. But I got good news for you, like a day before I come home Mingus is going to come over for a visit I kinda thought that you'd be a little bit happier if you knew that. Did you know how uncomfortable these hotel beds are? Maybe I'll just sleep on the floor cause the carpet seems softer. Sorry for these random things.' 'YAY! You know how to make me happy. Haha you think they are uncomfortable? What about a few weeks ago when I went to that thing with you and we had to be in that hotel? Try being pregnant and sleeping on those.' 'Fair enough. So has our little girl been up to anything today or no?' 'Eh nah she's just been *ouch* kicking super hard and won't stop. Like I said earlier she had hiccups a lot today. I think she misses you.' 'Aww I miss her to. So when I get home I'm gonna try to help jump start labor.' 'Oh my gosh of course you'd say that. Haha. Hell I'd let you mainly because she needs to show her cute lil face and also because umm uhh... because lets face it that its fun to try even though every past effort has been unsuccessful. So how was today? Whatcha do?' 'Eh nothing much I ran into Andrew at the airport and he was surprised I actually showed up.'


	10. Dear Daughter

It was already November, which means that I was officially 9 months pregnant. My due date was quickly coming up. We were counting down the days, because we were both eager to hold our daughter and also because I couldn't get comfy at night, plus I was crying more than usual. My due date was the 15th, but I didn't think I would make it til than. Norman had already had our bags packed, well he packed them since about 5 months. My bestie was with us for the long term since her boyfriend had come back to New York to just argue about how he didn't do anything wrong and how it was her fault. No matter what she could stay with us for however long she needed.

Everynight was about the same, in bed before almost anybody else, try to get comfy and fail, moan and groan and then finally curl up to Norman and then get a little bit of sleep. Every morning was about the same, I would normally wake up in Norman's arms and glance over at the clock. I noticed everyday it was a little later everyday latest we ever slept in was almost 11:30. I treasured moments like this because we were fixing to say goodbye to sleep. From about the 1st of November we had Mingus with us he was going to be with us until a little after his sister go here since we knew he didn't want to miss this for anything. He would get up before everybody else and I would hear him start playing his video games. I walked into his room and just stood in the doorway and just smiled, he was just like his dad. He paused the game and turned around and looked at me and just smiled and walked over and hugged me and my belly "Hey sissy! You going to come see us today?! Mom and Dad are really nice trust me! Plus I really wanna meet you!"

It was already past my due date and we talked prior that if I passed my due date that if I passed my due date the next week we would induce labor. I wasn't all on board wit it, because maybe she needed extra time not that it would make her more perfect, sine she as already perfect. Everyday I hoped she would choose to come soon and I hoped that the doctor visit was called off. Norman said that is was my choice. We went with the flow for the next couple of days because I knew it was only a matter of time. We went to bed at about 8:00 on the 17th and about 10:00 I woke up out of a dead sleep to a surging pain in my stomach. I shook Norman awake and told him that I thought I was in labor. We got the bags and headed to the car about the time I got out of bed, my water broke. I started panicking and crying. Everybody in the apartment woke up and saw me crying. "What the hell is going on?!" I heard my friend utter as I tried to keep calm and I bit my lip as contractions happened. Mingus ran up to me and tried to calm me down I looked at him and smiled "Your daddy taught you well. Thanks for all the kindness you've shown me."

We headed to the hospital and quickly went back. They prepped everything and I kept crying. Norman kept trying to calm me down but it wasn't working. I happened to look at the clock and saw it almost 12:00. "How long have I been here?!" I managed to pant out. "About an hour and half" the nurse replied. I broke down even more and looked in Norman's eyes and whispered "I can't do this..." He looked in my eyes and told me "Yes you can I know you can!" All I wanted to do was push but the doctor didn't say could so I tried to refrain from doing so because they said I wasn't dilated much at all. Another hour went by and they decided to just see what was happening. They did an ultrasound and saw she wasn't in the correct position so they chose to do an emergency C-section. I looked at Norman and said "I'm so weak that Ii couldn't eve do this. I'm sorry!" He looked at me and kissed my forehead and said "Listen to me, you're not weak! You're this baby girl's mother and you're stubborn and it just so happens that she is the same exact way. I know that you're worried and that things are going wrong but just because you need help right now doesn't mean that you're weak, heck you've carried her for 9 months, most people wouldn't be able to do that. You're stronger than you'll ever know!"

They prepped me for the C-section and the reality set in that I was going to be a parent, not that the entire 9 months weren't reality enough. The entire process was stressful mainly because I wanted it to be over and plus the not knowing what was going to happen. I held on to Norman's hand for what felt like forever until I heard the cries and broke down more than I ever did in the past. "It's a girl!" I heard the doctor say. Norman and I looked into each others eyes. "You did it, see I knew you could do it. Now comes your biggest challenge yet being a parent, but don't worry I'm going to be there for you no matter what." I wiped the tears away, and just smiled "What did I ever do to deserve someone as sweet as you?" I muttered. They cleaned our daughter up and handed her to me and I just brushed her cheek and she opened her mouth and a little whine came out. I started laughing and held her and just admired her little face I kissed the top of her head as Norman took a picture for Instagram. "Proud to announce that at 3:15 A.M. little Miss Mercy Reedus made her grand introduction into the world via C-section. Can't thank everybody enough for their well wishes during this time. Mommy and baby are resting comfortably. "

I finally let Norman hold her and took a picture to upload to my personal Instagram page with the caption "Daddy and Daughter together finally. He can't keep his eyes off of her. #JEALOUS. No, but seriously who knew this man could get any cuter?! I'm so so in love with him and our precious little family! #SoBlessed " After a short period of time they let us have visitors and the look on Mingus' face was so cute. He ran up to the side of the bed and just looked in "awe" at his new sister. He picked her up with a little guidance, surprisingly I knew a lot going back on my previous baby sitting jobs. Norman took another picture with the caption "My son and his brand new sister! They seem to be adjusting to each other perfectly! I couldn't ask for anything else. #Happy #Complete #Family" After Mingus got done holding her my bestie got to hold her and I saw her eyes light up at the sight of her. "You both did perfect with the genes. Haha. No, but seriously you guy did great in the looks department. So, did you guys finally pick out a name yet or not?" - "We did, her name is Mercy." My friend smiled and said "Hello there Miss Mercy." She handed her back to me as soon as she started to cry. "I think she's hungry momma." - The nurse came in and helped me get started nursing her. Surprisingly she started right as I attempted. This was my life now. I couldn't ask for more. All I wanted to take her home and work one on one with her.

Everything checked out perfectly with our little bundle of love and my incision wasn't infected and seemed to be healing nicely. We both got released on Thursday, everything seemed to be moving to fast. It seemed like just the other day, I found out and was worried how everybody would respond to the news. The trip home was weird in a matter of a few days we went from an empty car seat to a filled one. I kept looking in the back to see our daughter sleeping. Wednesday afternoon my bestie took Mingus back to the apartment, because there wasn't really room for 3 people to sleep in the room. I looked at Norman and he looked back and asked if anything was wrong and I replied "Nope just doesn't seem like I deserve all this..." He looked at me and asked "Why do you always have to put yourself down all the time?! You always say that and let me tell you something, YOU DO DESERVE TO BE HAPPY! Just because all of your ex's were jerks and treated you badly doesn't mean you deserved it. They didn't know what kind of a woman they had. You deserve to be treated like a freakin queen!" By this tie I as crying my eyes out. "Than-Thank you for that." I managed to stutter out. "You are more than welcome. Trust me, you deserve this. We're a family. Together forever. We're in this together."

We got home and I tried my best to calm down before I got out of the car. I got out and picked our baby up out of her car seat and headed to the apartment. I didn't realize how big in demand Norman was until I had cameras in my face. It was cold outside so thankfully I had a blanket and prayed it kept her out of the news. Norman shielded both of us the best he could. We finally made it to the apartment with Mercy crying up a storm because of all the noise and commotion. Ii sat down on the couch and just felt horrible. Ii picked her up trying to calm her down and kept whispering to her "I am so sorry sweetie for this." Norman came over and sat down next to me and with his head down. "I'm sorry to the both of you. I can't ever make up for this going back on our talk earlier, you don't deserve this." I grabbed his hand and looked in his eyes and said "Listen, this isn't on you. Nobody deserves this and this little girl won't love you any less because of this. I hate this but sadly these "people" will do anything to sell stories or photos. I'm used to it by now and I don't love you any less." We both smiled at each other and looked at our little girl screaming and crying. "She doesn't deserve this life." echoed in my brain.

I let Norman change he while I went to get her bottle made "Here I'm pretty sure she wants this by now." I said with a smile. "But I thought you were going to nurse her..." Norman said. - "Yeah, but you can't obviously feed her if I kept it that way, if it counts I provided it myself so... yeah. Why in the world did you think I had the pump on the list of gifts?" Norman took the bottle and started feeding her. I took a picture making sure her adorable face wasn't visible. I looked at the picture and Norman was smiling. I uploaded it to Instagram with the caption "Daddy - Daughter bonding already. Look at the smile on his face! #Family #Cute #Adorable" I took another picture but this I had and noticed she was looking up at her daddy and he down at her smiling. All of a sudden she refused to eat anymore. he picked her up and burped her and she spit a while bunch of stuff up on him. I started laughing and took her from him. "I'm going to take a shower, I'm starting to feel like Daryl here..." Norman said as he kissed me and Mercy. "Be right back 'Cupcake'" "Will you stop calling her that? I'd rather you call he 'Little Ass Kicker' why cupcake? I agree its cute but still." I said with a smile. "But she's cute like a cupcake..."

I carried her into the bedroom which is where I asked for her crib to be moved. I put her on the bed and laid down next to her, I knew that I should never go to sleep with but she fell asleep next to me and I was completely exhausted. Norman walked in and saw us laying there and I had my thumb on her little cheek and my lips on her forehead. He took a picture and uploaded it with the caption "Got out of the shower and I walked into my bedroom and found this. This little girl has a great mommy and my life can't get anymore perfect." I got woken up to the sound of the bedroom door opening because Mingus had just gotten home. "DAD!" Norman walked over and pointed at me and Mercy. "Shh... your sister is sleeping." - "Oh sorry." He walked over to her and rubbed her little head and smiled. "I'm happy she's finally here. Now I just have to wait for her to start playing and... the jerks to mess with her so I can kick their butts into next week." I looked at him and then at Norman "I can certainly tell you both are related." I said with a smile. "So, do you wanna play video games with me dad? Mom just got me this new one and I thought..." - "Sure! Just let me make sure your uh step mom and sister are settled in." - "Still not comfortable saying that? It's okay I get it." I said to Norman. "Just never really been in a relationship like this. Most people treat him different since he's not theirs but you treat him like your own."

I sighed and got up off the bed and went over and hugged him and looked into his eyes "I'm not like everybody else, sure there was a time when I used to despise kids but something changed. I love you and your son. Hell, he used to come up to me and tell me how much he likes me compared to other women you dated. I don't know why, but yeah. He also said we're probably going to be together forever because of how we act together." - "Because of how we act together?" - "He said something along the lines of we click and that we get along and that you smile a lot more with me..." I looked away right as I heard a little whine escape from Mercy's mouth. I leaned back onto the bed "Ouch!" I cried as I picked her up. "What's wrong?" Norman asked concerned. "Nothing I just hit my stomach. This is going to be hard to deal with." I picked her up and tried to shush her back to sleep. "Let me take a look at it to make sure nothing came loose." - "No, that's okay." I tried to get away but he stopped me. "Why are you so damn defensive about this? You think I'll look at you different all of a sudden?! You had a kid and that scar is a badge of honor!" The things this man said always made me feel important and made me cry. I let him see and he kissed my scar and said "I'll love you no matter how many scars you have." I smiled because he really meant it. When we first got together I tried to hide my scar on my wrist. One morning I woke up to Norman looking at my wrist. I pulled my arm under the pillow and Norman pulled it out and traced the marks. "How did you get these?" - "They came from a friend's cat." - "Bull. Tell me how you really got em." I told him the story of each mark and he looked back at my wrist and said "Promise you won't ever do that again." I bit my lip and choked out "Promise." Mercy's crying brought me back. Norman picked her up and calmed her down "Already a daddy's girl" I said. I followed Norman into Mingus' room ad he handed her to me. I at down on the bed and watched Norman and his son have father-son time. I looked down and Mercy was looking right at her daddy. Norman looked back at me and saw her little blue eyes looking at him. He took her and held her and laid her down in his lap and I was amazed at how he bonded with her. The phone went of and I noticed Sean called. I picked up the phone "Hello!" - "Hey! Gotta say that baby is one of the cutest I've ever seen. So how you both holding up?" - "We're okay. She's a real easy going baby. When are you going down to visit her?!" - "I think there's a convention close by and I'll swing by on my way home. Is Reedustein there? If so can I talk to him?" - "Sure, let me go get him."

I handed Norman the phone and took Mercy out of his lap and went to go fix her bottle and Mingus followed me into the kitchen. "Can I feel her? I mean if you don't care." He looked up at me and I sad "If you think you can handle it. Wanna hold her while I fix the bottle?" - "Sure!" I saw his eyes light up. I walked over to the couch and handed her to him "Now hold her this way okay? I've learned that if you hold her a certain way she'll cry less." I got her bottle and handed it to him. taught him how to feed he and I smiled this was perfect. Trying to make conversation I asked him "So did your mom see your sister yet?" - "Yeah, dad sent her a picture when he told everybody else. She said she was really cute." - "Can I ask you something? I mean not to get to personal?" - "Eh, sure." - "So, have you and my dad thought about another baby? I mean I know you just had this one, but I know you wanted another." - "Ha. Um well we're going to take it as it goes. We took it as it goes this time and look what happened. Meeting your dad was unexpected, but everything happens for a reason." I hugged him. "No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you." - "Thank you. I knew there was a reason my dad fell for you." I blushed. I've tried to make people's lives better because I know how it feels to be treated like garbage. I think I finally made a difference. We both were laughing towards the end and Norman hung up the phone he walked into the room we were in "Okay, what are you two planning?" We just looked at each other and said in unison "Nothing..." - "Whatever you two have planned just don't bring my daughter into it. I'd like to keep her little mind from being warped as long as possible." I laughed "You think we'd honestly do that? You've got us confused with somebody else..." I hugged our daughter and looked at the clock 7:30 I remember when about this time fun and games would be starting. I could barely keep my eyes open. From being up at 4 in the morning and not really sleeping. Norman offered to pick up the slack but I knew it was my job and I wasn't going to hand her off just to sleep. The doctors told me to take it easy for a few weeks but I got up every time she cried. It was to the point where me and Norman both wanted to hold her. We wanted to try to make each other share. As cute as each of us was with her we wanted to hold her I liked to just feel her skin on my skin. I loved her with all my heart.

We got settled in about 10:00 and Mercy finally fell asleep in her daddy's arms. I smiled "She's already got you wrapped around her finger." - "Nah ever since I found out about her she had my heart." I found out after a few times if she could feel your skin she'd go to sleep or calm down. She loved her daddy already, she couldn't take her eyes off him. We decided it was time for bed. I walked into the bedroom and noticed the black blob in the crib. I smiled and Norman walked into the room "Look" I whispered. Norman walked over and saw Eye in the crib asleep "Hey atleast one person is getting sleep." He said. He went and picked him up and put him on the bed. I kissed Mercy on the forehead and went to get into bed, and Eye strutted up wanting me to pet him. "Hi buddy! What's up? See the new edition? he just looked up at me and I kept petting him "Little noisy right? Don't worry" We turned off the light and I cuddled up to Norman "I love you" - "I love you too" I curled up into the crook of his neck. I fell asleep and woke up at about 12:30 and tried to get up but Norman was already up trying to help her. "I just changed her but that doesn't seem to be the problem." - "Here give her to me" I tried to nurse her and she latched on. We got her fed and changed and held her until she fell asleep. "Ahh... this is the life." I said sarcastically. "Come on lets go back to bed before she wakes up again." Norman said. I looked at the bags under his eyes and breathed really hard. "Come on you're exhausted I can tell, you need sleep" - "Okay let's go" We climbed back into the bed and I curled up next to him. I woke up to the sound of crying and the sound of Norman shushing her a he carried her over to me and said "I think she wants her mommy. I held her and she just looked up at me with such emotion in her eyes. I leaned down and gave her a kiss and she slightly smiled. "Awe! She just almost smiled!" - "She loves you, why wouldn't she smile?" I brushed her face admiring at how soft her skin was. Norman sat down on the bed and leaned over to kiss me and she started having a fit. "I don't think she likes us getting close to each other." - "Yeah maybe that's why whenever we lay down she cries?" Mercy just laid in my arms and looked at her daddy. "I think she wants your to leave her mommy alone." I said as I lightly pushed his shoulder. "Okay. Okay. Two against one here." The door creaked open and out of a blackened hallway Eye came in and jumped on the bed and started rubbing on Mercy.

I woke up with my head on Norman's chest and looked at the clock 8:00. I wondered why I didn't get woken up by cries and I glanced over at the crib and she was asleep and I noticed something black next to her. I get up and thought "NO! We left blanket in her crib!" I got up and heard purring. I looked and Eye was snuggled up next to her purring away. I went over and tapped Norman on the shoulder "Wha- what's the matter?!" I heard him say with a grunt. "Look at what I found in Mercy's crib. Come here." He got up and looked in her crib. "I thin this means he likes her? Right?" - "Ha. Yeah, it does." He leaned down and kissed me. "No matter what happens we'll be together Why do you think she did that?" - "I dunno. Maybe she doesn't want another sibling?" I looked at Norman when he posted the picture of Eye and our daughter with the caption "Things that you see that make you go 'awe'" I went into the kitchen to make something for breakfast. I heard a door open and saw Mingus walk in and look at me with a weird look "Dad actually let you back into the kitchen?!" - "I'm hungry so I wanted to cook. Plus my stitches haven' busted yet so.. but long story short, no he doesn't know I'm in here. Make you a pancake if you keep this between us. Huh?" - "Eh sure, but if you get hurt dad's going to be mad. Oh by the way my mom is coming for a visit today. Is that okay?" - "Sure. Anytime she wants to swing by she can."

I was in the middle of cooking when I heard a cry. I went to go get her and Mingus said "I can get it." He ran into the bedroom and picked her up and carried her to the couch. I got plates down and put the food on them and walked over and picked her up. I put the plates on the table and went to go change her. I changed her clothes and I brought her out and made her a bottle and fed her. Norman came out of the bedroom in new clothes after a shower. He looked at our plates and smiled "Where's mine?" I pointed to the kitchen, I left a few pancakes and eggs in the pans. I let our daughter eat and put her in my lap and waited til she fell asleep to try and eat. This is life now eating luke warm or cold food. I didn't mind it at all I wanted to be the best mom I could be if eating at a later time was a way to achieve I, so be it. I finally got the chance to tell Norman about Helena coming for a visit. He was surprised by the late notice. He looked at Mingus and asked why he kept it a secret until a few moments ago. "I kinda wanted it to be a surprise." - "It's okay anytime your mom wants to visit she's welcome understand? So you going back with her or staying?" - "I'm staying until next Sunday. She just wants to see her." he said pointing to his sister. I smiled.

It was about 1:00 and I was sitting on the couch and heard a knock on the door. Norman went and opened it and Helena walked in. Mingus ran up to her saying "Mom! Mom! Guess what?! I have a sister!" and he pulled her over to the couch where I was. I smiled at her. She looked down at my arms and asked if she could hold her. I handed her over. She looked down at her "Awe you are so cute! Look at your chubby cheeks. You look just like your mommy." - "Norman calls her 'Cupcake'" - "That seems like something he'd do. So how you holding up? Parenthood everything you expected it to be?" - "Its going pretty well. She's a pretty good baby. You know the usual. I feel like the world stopped when she got here. She's a healthy baby so I count that as a blessing." Mercy let out a little whine and yawned and opened her eyes. "She's prefect you two. She's so cute and beautiful. You both did a great job. So how much do you remember after all these years?" she asked looking at Norman. "Most of it actually. Books help out a lot. Plus her being a good baby helps out too." Mercy woke up and started crying. Helena handed her back to me and I grabbed her bottle up off the table. "So, how are you feeding her? Just wondering." - "I'm nursing her most of the time but I put it in a bottle when I'm out in public."

I looked at the clock and it was about 4:00. "Helena would you care to stay for dinner?" - "Sure. If its not to much trouble." - "None at all." Norman started cooking and I tried to make conversation. Mingus came in and wanted to hold his sister, so I handed her to him and he sat down and smiled at me and his mom. I watched as he played with her, well as best as he could since she really couldn't play or do anything. She grabbed a hold of his finger like she usually did. Norman said that dinner was ready and Ii went to go change Mercy before dinner. We sat down and I put Mercy in her swing so she could relax until she fell asleep. We started eating and I tried to keep up a conversation. I kept smiling at Norman in between bites, and he kept smiling back at me. "So um how was your day today?" I asked - "Eh you know the usual. Work. Work. Work. Like I said the usual." Helena said back to me with a smile. "So Mingus, how is school going?" - "Uh well good I guess." he looked at me with a weird look. "Okay so, how are you liking being a big brother?" Norman asked. "I freakin' love it! She's so tiny plus she likes to watch me play video games. Thanks Dad!" Me and Norman just looked at each other and smiled.


	11. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

I heard Mercy stir in her sleep and then she stopped. I looked over and saw that Eye walked by the swing and put his paws up and just looked at Mercy and started meowing. Mercy looked at him. Norman just smiled at me and whispered "She truly is your child." I got my phone and tried to get the best picture I could without her face being visible. I took a few and posted one on Instagram with the caption "So our lil girl started having a fit and I looked over and noticed a dark and handsome man came to her rescue. She certainly is my child. XOXO" I sent Sean a picture with the look on her face like she didn't know what to think. *He texted me back "You know I seriously need to come meet that lil girl. She's seriously too adorable!" Dinner ended about 7:00 and Helena said she needed to head home. We said our goodbyes and let her say goodbye to Mercy. She handed her back to me and said "Take good care of her. She's going to be breaking hearts sooner than you know it." I cried. She was right. "Take care of yourself. When she's asleep do stuff for you. Take time for yourself." - "I... will." I barely uttered. She hugged me again. She turned to Norman and hugged him goodbye. I heard her whisper something to him and look at me and say "I know. Trust me." She went to Mingus and asked if he wanted to go with her or wait. "Mom, I'd like to stay. If that's okay?" - "Sure. Be good. Don't cause too much trouble."

We said goodbye an I turned around after the door closed "What do you know?" I asked with a puzzled look on my face. - "You know." - "No I don't." - "She... said that I need to not screw up with you. I need to try to not mess what we have up." I looked at him with my mouth open. "She really said that?! Seriously?!" - "Yeah, she did. She really likes you. Especially how you act with Mingus. Plus you kind of helped me come out of my shell. I don't know, hell everybody likes you. I mean when you decided to stay home before you found out you were pregnant, the cast missed you. Like, I don't know you're great to be around. You speak your mind and you're just fun to be around. Hey, if I screw up and lost you, I'd fight to win you back for the rest of my life and not just because we have a kid together. Well, partly that but, I've never felt this way about anybody before." I was crying by this point, this man was such a sweetheart. "Norman, I... I don't know what to say. You're super sweet, I'm so lucky to have you, plus having you in our daughter's life. Honestly, I don't see anything happening to us in the future." I sat down and tried to figure out if I was going to sleep now or later. Mercy was awake but not crying so I took this as a bonding time. I climbed in bed and turned on South Park and curled up next to Norman with Mercy in my arms. This was perfect.

I looked up at Norman and he looked down at me with a smile. I smiled back at him. "Okay, what do you want now?" he said with a laugh. "Nothing what do you think I want?" - "Well sleep for one. Look at your eyes. Why don't you sleep in tomorrow? I'll take care of her. Shouldn't be that big of a problem." - "But, I need to help like, I feel its my job to help out it shouldn't be your job." - "I want you to relax tomorrow. Can you atleast do that for me?" - "Eh sure I guess." - "Thank you. So how's your stomach today?" - "Its not really as sore, but when I put my hand on it, the scar is still tinder." I kind of smiled. I put Mercy to bed and got into bed. Norman lifted up my shirt took see my stomach and put his hand on it and I winced and I leaned over to kiss him and asked him "Do you still find me sexy? Even with the extra weight? All the marks?" He looked at me and said "Of course! All these beauty enhancements happened because of that angel over here. If anything I love you more! That scar is a badge of honor! Look at me. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!" This man made me cry a lot and I loved him for it. His pep talks were always needed. He kept me smiling. The next day was about the same as every other. I was tempted to help and even did. Norman wanted to give me a little freedom. As much as I wanted it more than ever now that it wasn't just me, but I didn't want to miss a thing. I didn't care if she was with someone I trusted if I wasn't there I was on edge.

Time flew by, next thing I knew it was already Thanksgiving Day which meant my baby was already 1 week old. I wanted to cry. It was going by so fast. The whole day went off with no problem. I wanted to just spend all my with my lil angel. The following week we had to take Mingus back home. He wanted too stay with his sister all the time. I envied his relationship with his sister and dad, since ever since me and Norman started dating my family sort of cut ties. I often wondered if my family ever got the news about our daughter. Norman kept asking me to make that call and just try to clear he air, I just can't bring myself to do it. The way I looked at it was, if they didn't want me to be around Norman, for whatever reason, I didn't want that around me. Cries brought me out of my haze. I walked over to the crib and picked my daughter up and changed her. I looked down at her face and smiled. I tried to calm her down it worked and I put her in her little swing and she was as happy as she could be. I always joked that if it was safe I would leave her in it all night long because it seemed to be one thing that helped her when nothing else would. We got a call that day from Sean asking when would be the best time for him to visit. Norman took the phone because I heard crying. I walked into the room and saw Mingus holding her. "Sorry, I just wanted to hold her." - "No, don't be sorry its fine." I said with a smile. "Alright brother. Looking forward to it!" I looked at Norman. "So what did he say? You sound happy." -"He's talking about next week, he doesn't really know yet. He wanted to wait for Christmas but he really wants to meet her and doesn't want to wait." - "He really is thoughtful you know that?" Norman looked at me and Mingus on the couch and asked if we would sit a little closer and I picked up Mercy and just looked down at her lil face and Mingus started to try to hold her in my arms and Norman took a picture and posted it with the caption "My loves! My heart! My family! I love waking up knowing these people are in my corner. I don't know where I would be without them with me." I looked at the clock and it was getting late, I decided it would be a good time to try to sleep. I laid Mercy down in her crib. I kissed her little head and heard a whimper come from her mouth. I held my breath hoping she would stay asleep and she did. I climbed into bed and fell right to sleep. As much as I loved being a mom, I missed sleep. Some days, I would lay Mercy down on a pillow and just lay beside her. Ever since I found out about her my entire outlook on life changed. I wanted to make her world special, I wanted her to have the best life she could have.

I woke up the next morning wrapped up in Norman's arms. I leaned up to see the clock which read 7:30 A.M. I yawned and looked over at the crib and saw Mercy struggling in her sleep. I got up out of bed and picked her up shushing her "Shh... Its okay mommy is here." I carried her over to the bed and grabbed a blanket and draped it over my shoulder and started nursing her. I just loved her. She had the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. Something in me wanted her eyes to stay that color forever, but I didn't think it would happen. She started pulling away from me the best she could and I burped her. I started laughing because for such a little human she knew how to burp. I got up and changed her and sat down on the bed and looked over at Norman who was still fast asleep. "Well, looks like daddy is sleeping away should we try to wake him up?" I said to her and she just looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. I went over and laid her next to him and whispering in his ear until he woke up an looked down a her and smiled. "Well, hello there cutie pie!" he picked her up and laid her on his chest and just listened to her breathe. I smiled at him. "You're really great with her. I don't know where we would be if you weren't here or if you weren't her daddy." - "And I'm proud to be her daddy." He said with a smile. "So what do you guys want to do? Its cold outside so we can't go outside..." - "Not that there's anything to make us go out there anyways... winter is fine but what about summer when she wants to go to the park? What the hell are we going to do?! We can't stop those vultures from doing what they do." - "You're so right, we'll try our best. I don't want her exposed to the media until we're ready, the sad fact is and I know you're not going to like this but it's probably going to happen." Norman said. I burst out screaming "Why the hell do we not have a say in this? Can we not just.. I don't know..." I sat down with my head in my hands and started to cry. "Hey, there there. We're going to deal with this maybe by that time all this hype is going to be done." I looked up with tears in my eyes "What if you're wrong?!" What the hell do we do then?!" - "We'll deal with things as we always do one step at a time." I looked over at Norman and just kissed him "We'll get through this together." I said looking into his eyes. Some how those baby blues made everything a bit better. My best friend came into the room, "Cuddle Pile" I smiled "YES!"

I didn't want time to fly by, but what could I do? December was approaching which means Christmas and Mercy turning a month. I held her in my arms and smiled. "Ya know sweetie you're growing up to fast. Mommy knows you have to grow but slow it down. Please?" Norman came into the room and looked at me "How are my girls today?" I smiled and looked at him "Just trying to tell her to stop growing so fast. You know she's almost 1 month already?! I can't stand her out growing my arms and things I know it comes with the job, but still."

It was already February, which meant that Mercy was 3 months old. Everyday it hit me that she was getting older and I can't do anything about it. I held her in my arms trying to shush her. I realized how hard it was to try to manage her and myself one on one, since Norman had to leave for work again. My bestie was still with me, but I really didn't want her to take care of my daughter when I was perfectly capable of doing so. "Here, let me take her while you go shower and make yourself look nice. Not that you don't look nice, its just you need some you time." - "Thanks. You sure that its not a problem?" - "Really I'm sure. She won't be a problem." I smiled and went to get some new clothes and headed to the shower. As soon as the water hit my body I felt different. It was like waking up. My stress felt as if it was going down the drain. I stepped out of the shower and got dressed and walked into the living room and saw my bestie holding Mercy who was asleep. "Shh.. she fell asleep a little after you left the room." I smiled again. "You know you're really great with her right?" - "Yeah, I guess I am. So when is your hubby coming home?" - "Eh, he's filming and plus photo shoots so long story short I have no idea." I sighed. "I know its his job, but she's growing up and I'm scared he's going to miss out on things. You know?"

"Yeah, its gotta be tough since you can't really leave or travel because she's not old enough. I remember when he tried to take you along and you both got into that argument." - "Yeah, I remember that day. He said if things work out that he'll drive us to Georgia to spend sometime with him during down time on set. Plus I think some of the cast wants to meet her." - "Hmm... that sounds sort of fun. You going or what?" - "I want to go, but then again its all her choice." - "Yeah, if she doesn't want to go then you can't go." I went and got my laptop and went to check my emails. I clicked delete because mainly it was all spam. All of a sudden I got tons of notifications from my social media accounts and went to see what the buzz was about and it was about Norman "Norman Reedus seen with mystery redhead." I just gasped with my hand over my mouth. My friend just looked at me "What?!" I turned it around to show her. "You don't really believe that do you?" She said with a puzzled look on her face. "I honestly don't know what to believe anymore. If it is true its done. I don't care who the hell he is I'm not being with a cheater. I'm sitting here with his child and he's out fucking random people?! I mean he's been gone a lot so maybe this would explain him being gone so much." About this time my phone went off and I looked at it and saw it was Norman. I let it ring and ring. "You should pick it up you know that right?" my friend said. "And he should have kept it in his pants he know that right?" I said. "Hey you don't even know that. Like you said, these people just make up shit to sell stories and fuck up people's lives." She said. My phone went off again and I didn't want to pick it up. "Hello?" - "Hey! Why didn't you pick up the phone last time I called? Everything okay?!" - "No, everything isn't okay." - "What happened? Mercy okay?" - "Yeah she's fine." - "So what happened?" - "Oh don't act like you don't know!" - No, I don't. Oh shit you're talking about the news..." - Yeah." - "Listen sweetheart..." - "Oh don't pull that BS with me. You want her? You can have her! I'm done! I'm sitting here with our daughter and you're out fucking random girls. I told you that if it happened I'd be gone before it happens again!" - "Listen, there's nothing happening between us. Just co-stars. That's it I swear to you!" - "These pictures don't look like just cast members." - "Those were photoshopped I can send you the pictures used. You know how people are. I'm trying to figure out when I can get back home. Trust me this is nothing happening." - I sighed "Okay. I guess hurry home when you can." - "I will. Trust me nothing is going on. Kiss Mercy for me? Please?!" - "Will do." - "Love you. Bye." - "Love you too. Bye." I put my phone down.

"Well, what did he say?" I wiped tears away. "He..he said that they were photoshopped." - "Well, that's something." I looked at the photos again. "Do these look like they are? He said they were just co-stars." - "They kinda look fake to me." - "Kinda?!" - "Well sometimes they look real. I honestly don't believe he'd cheat on you." I shut the webpage tab and just cried. I took Mercy from my friend and she just looked up at me weird. "Its okay sweetie. Hopefully your daddy isn't a complete jackass." She kept looking at me as if she was trying to listen and understand. "You're innocent for this. I want to keep you away from adult situations." - "Hey, you're a great mom. Honestly I don't think he did anything. He loves you two way to much to risk everything." - I looked at her I hope if he did something he thought of her, because I understand that stuff happens, but she doesn't and I hope that he didn't do anything because she doesn't need to know that daddy cheated. - "Like I said I don't think it happened. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do that. Plus most guys cheat because lack of sex and you both don't seem to be lacking in that department." - "He's lucky, because not many women would do that stuff in a short time after a baby. Plus the stuff I do for him..."

We both looked at each other. "Sorry sometimes my mouth doesn't get the memo to shut up." - "Nah. I don't think it's your mouth.. I feel you but I know. These walls aren't exactly sound proof. I can hear what goes on. Both of you don't seem to be lacking in the sex department. Plus he can't keep his hands off you. Plus didn't you say he has certain photos of you on his phone?" She says with an eyebrow raised. - "I told you that?!" - "Uh huh" she says. I start blushing. We both have certain photos so..." - "Pretty sure that those keep him entertained on his trips." - "... and then some." - "Huh?!" - '"Well, one day I came into the hallway and heard grunts and moans in the bedroom and just peaked in the door and... yeah. I guess he couldn't wait til I got back from shopping." - "Oh my gosh! You actually caught him ummm... yeah?!" - "Yeah as he has?! You really want to hear about these?" - "... If you wanna tell." I started blushing and sighed. "Well one day I woke up and I didn't think he was coming home and yeah it started out like you think and I didn't hear the front door open and the bedroom door was slightly opened and apparently he was standing there watching and watched the whole thing. I looked over my shoulder and saw him there, with a big smirk on his face." - "Oh my gosh. So you both have caught each other?"

"Yeah, haha. Its weirder because I've yelled out "Fuck me like Daryl would... and he just looks at me weird... and yeah." - "Oh gosh girl." - I don't know what to say, "But of all the guys I've ever had sex with he's the best." - "Okay girl clam down. Like I said if he did cheat it wasn't that reason." - "You think its because of her? Like he doesn't want to be a daddy again?" - "No! Not at all. He loves her with all his heart." - "Then what else could it be?!" I said crying. "Like I said, its probably just to sell a story. He doesn't like cheaters, so why would he cheat?!" - "He... What if... I don't know." My phone rang again and it was Norman again "Hey, I just got a ticket I should be home soon. Love you!" I just looked on and I looked at my friend "Well, what did he say?" - "He just got a ticket and he's on his way home." - "So what do you want to do?" - "Puzzles? Cards?" - "Yeah, we can play "Go Fish" or puzzles." I dragged out a bunch of things. We spread boxes all over and tried to pick things out to do to keep ourselves entertained. All of a sudden I heard Mercy crying and I quickly got up to see what was the matter. I noticed her diaper needed to be changed and I changed her. Then I gave her a bottle and just sat there rocking her with a smile on my face.

We stayed up almost all night because I wanted to confront Norman as soon as he got his ass through the door. I glanced at my phone about 11:30 pm. I was getting sleepy and made a bed in the floor. I dosed off and heard the door open. Normally I would get up and run to the door, but I was way too pissed. Norman walked in and walked over to Mercy and kissed her. I didn't know what time it was but I didn't care. "We need to talk Norman and you know it." - "Okay chew me out if that will make you feel better." - "Did you sleep with her?! Tell me the truth?" - "No! I swear to you! What can I do too make you believe me?! - "Did you kiss her?" - "No! She tried to kiss me but I pushed her aside I love you and our family!" I sighed and looked up at him "So she tried and you turned her away?" - "Yes! I love you and I wouldn't screw up what we have." - "Why did she try? She did know you have a newborn and a girlfriend?" - "I don't think it mattered she was drunk..." - "You weren't?" - "No, because I didn't feel like going out to the bar." I looked up at him we Mercy in his arms. "This is where I'm supposed to be. No matter what happens, remember what I said? No matter what happens we will be standing together." I looked up at him and smiled. "We are meant to be together." I leaned up to kiss him.


	12. Scared

Norman was doing lots of interviews on talk shows and just in general. I missed him having him home but this was our life and I understood it.

Interviewer: So, I heard you just had a baby,girl, recently.

Norman: Yeah. Yeah. She came into our lives back in November. She's perfect. Right now she's almost 4 months old. Seems like just the other day she was : We think we've got a photo. *shows photo and audience oohs and ahhs and Norman smiles*

Interviewer: So hows it feel to be a dad again. I know you've got a son. Any differences between your son and daughter?

Norman: It feels pretty good. Me and my girlfriend weren't even trying, but we're so blessed to be parents to this little angel. Differences? Umm well personality wise they are different. Thinking back to when my son was her age he was a lot different. He's protective of his sister though. It's a fight between the 3 of us, Myself, My Son, My Girlfriend who gets to hold her. He flipped out when he found out. We were both worried that he'd be jealous at the news, but he took it great.

*shows photo of son and daughter and Norman smiles again*

Interviewer: So I know you've got a bunch of different projects going on now. A few movies. Walking Dead. How do you find the time to do these different projects plus convention appearances and being a father?

Norman: I try to take it one day at a time. Last year hit me, because I knew there was a little person that was going to need me. I did do a lot of cons, but I canceled a lot, I felt bad doing so but complications came up with my daughter, so I felt that if anything happened and I wasn't there how my family would react without me. I did cut a lot of filming because of the same reasons. I made sure that every appointment we had for ultrasounds that I was there for that. I love my fans, and thank them for supporting me with everything.

Interviewer: So, can you tell us anything about Walking Dead S5?

Norman: The finale is a tearjerker. Tissues are needed. All I can really say is each season keeps getting bigger and better.

Interviewer: Sounds exciting!

I was holding Mercy when I heard my phone go off. I leaned down to pick it up to see Norman and Mercy's picture. I smiled. 'Hey!' - 'Hey. How's my favorite girls doing?' - 'We're great. Missing you. Actually Mercy just went to sleep. Hold on a minute.' I went and put the phone next to Mercy's ear and she woke up. 'Hey sweetie. It's daddy. Miss me yet? I'm sure you do. I'll be home soon. ' She had a smile on her face. - 'Hey, I'm back. I wish you could see her right now she's smiling so big.' 'Awwehs. I should be home either tomorrow or the day after. You think you can handle her til I get home?' - 'Yeah, she's been kinda cranky lately but other than that she'd been fine. You think later on tonight maybe you could facetime with her? Just so she gets to see you? Feels kinda weird showing her pictures to try to calm her down.' - 'Yeah babe. I'd honestly like that.' - We talked for a good hour and said our goodbyes. I looked over at Mercy asleep on the bed. I looked over at her and completely forgot that I had one of Norman's shirts using is as a blanket and decided to post it on Instagram. 'Our daughter asleep using Daddy's shirt as a blankly. Can you tell she's missing him?' a few seconds later comments kept flooding in. Norman was the first comment with 'Awweh. I miss her so f'n much. This made my day.' - I smiled and commented back 'Sorry to hear that you're having a bad day. I can for sure say that she makes my days brighter.' - apparently Sean saw it too and said 'OMG she's getting so big. I need to make a trip sometimes soon. Possible vacation?' - I giggled and commented back 'If you say so. We'd love to have you guys visit. We're going to be one member short sadly. Sorry to hear about your loss.' Norman got home and I couldn't be happier. After a few weeks of not seeing him I couldn't wait for the hugs and the random stories he heard while on the road. I had Mercy in my arms and he hugged me and took her and loved all over her. As much as I missed all the attention it makes me happier that he is so in love with her. He kissed my forehead and asked 'What happened while I was gone with you two?' - I shrugged my shoulders 'Eh not really anything. She cried non stop. Seems the only time she didn't cry was when you called or when you face timed with her. She loves you, you know that right?' - Norman shook his head and smiled down at her 'She's my lil girl. I love her with all my heart.' I ended up cooking dinner that night since I wanted Norman to rest a little bit.

It was almost the end of March and Norman was gone 90% of this month. I kept saying 'Its his job. You knew this.' and I knew each time he left he felt bad. I held my daughter in my arms and just kept thinking 'What if she starts talking and he's not here? What if she starts walking and he's not here?' all these questions went through my head. This time Norman was going with a few cast members to this festival. I watched him pack his bags as I held our daughter. 'Have fun.' I said as I walked out of the doorway. He looked over his shoulder and said 'We could go together if you want. I have no problem driving if you want to tag along.' - 'Nah I'm okay. I don't feel comfortable with taking her away from home and move her around, plus since people already know I don't want to run into photographers and...' I trailed off. Something in me wanted to just yell at him and tell him to stay and let one thing go. I didn't. I just smiled at him. 'Hey, we might be able to tag along next year.' We both smiled at each other as Mercy was waking up from her nap. Norman reached out his arms for her and I kindly handed her over. He went and got her a bottle and sat down on the couch and I watched him feed her. 'You want to do this?' He offered me the bottle. I shook my head 'Nah, you won't get to see her for a while enjoy it.' She finished her bottle and he went and changed her and went into the bedroom and asked me to come look at something. I walked in and saw that he had her in his backpack. 'I'm packing and I think she wants to go with me.' I just looked at her curled up in his bag going to sleep. Norman took a picture of her and uploaded it with the caption 'I was packing and noticed a stow-away.' - I did the same thing and put the caption 'Daddy is getting ready to leave and I don't think she's ready to say goodbye.' - I felt weird being the only one to stay here, lonely didn't even describe how I was feeling at this moment. It was just going to be me, my best friend, and my daughter and our furbaby. Ever since I got pregnant and became a mom Norman left Eye at home to keep me company.

Norman was gone a few days and I had to go shopping so my best friend offered to tag along and on the ride to the store, I was thinking about something and all of a sudden I started turning up the radio because 'Bad Medicine' by Bon Jovi came on the radio and I turned it up to sing the lyrics horribly. We arrived at the store and I got a buggy and started looking at the shopping list I gathered. I carefully chose what to get and crossed each thing off the list. We got up to the counter and I remembered something. So I gave my friend the money to pay for the stuff and walked slowly to the hygiene aisle and searched the shelves for something. I finally got to where they kept the pregnancy tests and my stomach dropped. I was late and of course I'd been late in the past, but this was longer. I was thinking how in the world would I ever tell Norman? I grabbed the best one in my opinion and hurried to the register and noticed my friend was still in line. I stood behind her and held the test and I was getting inpatient. Finally we got up to the cashier 'Is this all today?' and we both said 'Yes' and I let her put the stuff on the counter and reluctantly put the pregnancy test box on the counter. Me and my friend were chatting away and playing with Mercy. We got all of our items in bags and hurried out of the store and back home. My friend helped me put things away and she came to the bag with the test and opened it and I grabbed the test and hid it behind my back. 'Okay.. what the hell did you buy now?' - I looked at her and she looked into my eyes and said 'Oh...' I looked down at my feet and brought the test out and stared at the box and looked over and Mercy. 'How in the fuck can I be pregnant again?! We used condoms. I went back on birth control.' My friend looked at me and said 'Well things happen.' Norman called me later that night and we talked and he talked to our daughter. He said he would be staying a little longer than expected. He went to Texas with Steven, Melissa, and his son and his own mother. I realized now I was the only one who didn't go. 'My mom wanted to say Hi. She looked at the photos of Mercy and smiled. She said you're an amazing mother. Oh Mingus says Hi also. - I smiled. 'I'm trying my best to send you guys cute pictures, but she's really cranky.' - 'I'm probably going to be gone for a few more days, but if she gets to much to handle call me and I'll head home.' - 'Alright. Take as much time as you need.' 'Hold on someone wants to talk to you.' I held the phone up to Mercy's ear and listened to her coo on the phone while Norman was talking to her. She started going to sleep and I took the phone back. 'She's almost asleep right now. You should see her right now she's so cute.' - Me and Norman talked for a while. I missed having him home. I took a quick picture of Mercy curled up on the couch. I uploaded it to Instagram and tagged Norman and added the comment 'Daddy put her to sleep with his stories. Even thousands of miles away he can still put her to sleep.' - Norman commented back 'Glad I can help out whenever I'm away. Missing you guys like crazy!' Later on that night Norman wanted to see Mercy before she went to bed and Facetimed with me and I was feeding her and picked up the phone and saw Norman smiling. He kept calling Mercy's name but she wouldn't even look at him. I started laughing 'Yeah she's hungry and she's more interested in getting her belly filled than talking to you apparently.' - Norman started laughing and said 'I don't blame her.' I turned so red. 'So, what's going on? Anything exciting happen?' - 'Eh nothing much. You were right about the photographers though. They are EVERYWHERE!' - 'Told ya.' Mercy finished nursing and started squirming around in my arms and I let her turn around and she saw her daddy's face and started smiling and cooing and it was so damn cute. 'HEY SWEETHEART!' I saw Norman smile ear to ear when he saw that smile. I loved the interaction between them. She may have clung to me, but she was a daddy's girl at heart. I loved hearing her laugh and seeing her little smile. We talked until I glanced over at the clock and saw it was almost 12:00 AM. 'I guess I'm going to let you both get some sleep.' - 'Oh okay. If something happens feel free to call. Okay? Miss you bunches!' - I checked all my social media accounts before heading off to bed and came across a photo on Norman's Instagram account with the caption 'I kept trying to get my daughter to notice me, but she was serious about her milk.' I scrolled through the comments and some actually make me almost gag. 'Oh man I'd love to be in your daughter's position.' 'Oh woah. Wouldn't mind a night with her.' There was a long line of comments that were so disgusting. I read a few women saying 'You guys making those comments are the reasons why this is an issue in public. You're the ones that can get off on just a little bit of skin. STFU.' - I smiled atleast some people have decency. I commented on it and said 'Oh my gosh Norman I can't believe you posted this. - As for all you disgusting and sad excuses for men out there who are getting off to this image, you're the reason why this is frowned upon in public places. Take your nasty and disgusting comments somewhere else.'

Days passed. I never took that test. All of a sudden I heard a knock on the door, and I got up and opened the door. I wasn't expecting Norman home, because he always calls first. I saw Mingus standing there 'Uh.. where's your dad?' - 'Oh, he's doing this random stuff, convention and possibly coming home. I don't really know. Sorry.' I let him in and he found his sister in her swing. I could tell he missed her, just the way he acted. I let him interact with her for a while and I started cooking dinner since it was about that time. We talked over things that happened while he and his dad were taking their trip. He told me a few things and said that his dad is really sad he can't be at home as much as he'd like. I looked over at our daughter in her swing asleep, and looked Mingus and said 'Yeah I couldn't imagine what he's dealing with having to travel and know that he's missing out on important parts of her life.' We finished our dinner and started to head to bed. I let Mingus say goodnight to his sister, and he hugged her tight. I went into the bedroom and put Mercy in her crib, which I had Norman bring back into the bedroom while he was gone. My friend said 'You seriously need to talk to Norman about this.'

We both sat there talking about different things and laughing. He looked at me and asked 'What do you think my dad would honestly say if you were pregnant again? Would you think he'd be mad? Because he probably wouldn't. He loves you and I'm sure he'd support you.' I smiled at him and said 'I don't think he'd just leave me just because I got pregnant so quickly. I just.. I don't know. I know he wouldn't leave me just for that. It's a stupid reason, and I don't think your dad would do that get me pregnant and then leave.' - 'No he wouldn't. He's not like that. I've heard some of the stuff you guys have talked about and how all your ex's treated you badly and now you don't think you deserve to be happy just because of how some idiots treated you.' - 'I treated some of them crappy too, but you know what you're right. I deserve to be happy. You know you're wiser than most kids your age. I'll say it again, your dad raised you right most of these so called gentlemen out there could learn a thing from you.' He looked at my hand and saw the ring on my finger 'You know my dad has never done that for anybody else.' as he motioned to the ring. 'You're special to him.' I knew that this was true. Norman came home a few days later, and I knew I had to tell him. He got in sometime in the afternoon and I was so happy he was home. He leaned down and kissed me and then kissed Mercy's forehead. 'So how are my girls?' I laughed and said 'We're alright. Missed you.' I watched as he went and put his bags in the bedroom. He came out with a bag and handed it to me and I looked at him with a puzzled look and tried my best to hold my daughter and open the bag. Norman took her from me and started aweing over her. Inside the bag were all kinds of random goodies. 'Thanks...' was all I could utter. He smiled at me and I looked at the clock and saw what time it was and went and started making dinner. Norman stopped me and said 'Hey lets just enjoy tonight. What do you want? Pizza? Chinese?' - I looked at him and spit out 'Anything really. I haven't had anything to eat at all today.' We got some Chinese food and I started eating it and had Mercy in my lap. 'So anything exciting happen while I was gone?' My stomach flip-flopped and I said 'Nothing really. Mercy cried the whole time you were gone, and I'm not kidding. Nothing helped.' He looked over at her and said 'Its okay sweetie Daddy's home.' I smiled. - Later on that night we were getting ready for bed and I was fixing the bed and Norman came out of Mercy's room and walked up behind me. I knew exactly what he wanted. I turned around and our mouths met and his hands wondered to my waist. He pushed me onto the bed and started pulling off my pajamas. I smiled at him, and he started kissing on my neck and mumbled 'I missed this...' I laughed. He started trailing down from my neck and ended up at my breasts. I let out a low moan, as that talented tongue of his glided along my skin. He looked up at me with a devilish smile. He kept getting lower and lower, until I felt his hands on my thighs. I knew exactly what he intended to do, and I welcomed it. I started running my fingers through his hair and all of a sudden I let out a loud gasp. His tongue entered into me and danced along and trying to reach every hidden corner. I moaned louder and louder. I looked down at him going to town. I arched my back, and felt the sensation in my core. My orgasm hit me and Norman just looked at me with a smirk on his face. I blushed at him. 'Ready for Round 2?' he asked. - I bit my lip and shook my head. Norman took me in his arms and positioned himself between my thighs and eased into me. All of a sudden he started thrusting into me with more force than the previous one. I heard him grunting and looked at his face as it was tightening with each thrust '...Take your time.' I uttered before I started moaning again. I motioned to Norman that I wanted to be the dominate one before this was over. He let me on top and I started grinding my hips and he put his hands on my waist and held me in place while I did my own thing. Both of our orgasms hit us and we probably ended up waking half the people up in the apartments next to us. I crawled off and laid next to him and just panted. He looked over at me and said 'God I missed that.' I looked at him smiling and said 'Me...Me.. too.'

The following day I remembered that I needed to tell Norman about the scare. I looked at Norman putting his clothes back up and I was nursing Mercy and sat down on the bed and blinked. 'Norm..can I talk to you?' and he stopped putting his stuff away and looked at me and said 'Yeah. What's up?' - I looked at him and didn't know how to even bring up the conversation. 'What's wrong? Last time you acted like this it was when you were telling me about her.' He motioned to Mercy. I looked down at the floor and back up at him. 'Wait. Let me guess. You're pregnant again.' I looked at him and said 'I'm not believe me. Please don't be mad. I..' - 'Why would I be mad?' - I shrugged my shoulders... 'Just its.. not a good time we just had a daughter and what would we do with another child?' - 'I could never be mad at you, even if you ended up having kids back to back. I love you and hell you and I both are old enough to know that protection isn't 100% reliable. It would take something else to make me leave you.' I couldn't believe I was this lucky, to have this great guy who tries to make me happy before himself. I fell asleep at night wondering how I got so lucky, since I wasn't like his ex's, I was heavier and I certainly didn't have their looks. Norman touched my shoulder and brought me out of my haze. 'You okay?' - 'Yeah. I'm good.' I looked down at Mercy asleep in my arms. 'Hey, you wanna hold her for a while?' I said with a smile 'Of course.'


	13. Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing

April was already here and we were lucky that Norman had breaks between filming and conventions. I couldn't even believe 5 months had flown by since I gave birth. Everyday she was growing. I looked at the pictures between moments after she as born til now and she had gotten bigger. She was trying her hardest every single day to say words. I was worried that Norman wouldn't be around to hear her say her first world. Norman asked me a few days ago if I was still wanting to drive to GA while he filmed season 6 of Walking Dead. I told him I was it would be great to catch up with everybody and show them this little human that we created. Norman had a convention scheduled and asked if my friend and I wanted to tag along. We said yes. We all needed to get out of New York for a while. We packed our bags and made sure everything was taken care of. I made sure Mercy was strapped into her car seat as Norman packed the bags into the car. I sat down in the passenger seat and looked at my friend in the backseat. 'Ready?' Norman asked both of us and off we went.

We got to where we were supposed to be when Norman's phone started ringing. He looked at it and picked it up 'Hey brother. How are you? Yeah I just got here. You know any nice hotels around?' I sat in the passenger seat as Norman was on the phone. He hung up and started backing out of the parking lot. He pulled into the parking lot of a different hotel and saw Sean standing in the lobby. I got out of the car and unbuckled Mercy from the car seat and walked into the lobby with Norman, my friend followed behind. Sean turned around and went up and hugged Norman. I stood there holding Mercy and Sean looked over and hugged me and then looked down and saw Mercy in my arms and held out his arms. I let him hold her and the man at the front desk was standing there with an impatient look on his face. '2 rooms. Singles.' Norman said as he looked over at me with a smirk that made me blush. 'Nah no reason to do that Reedustien. I'll take 1 room. Double.' He said looking at my friend who was trying to hide. 'This is cheaper than buying 3 different rooms. Plus I want to spend some time getting to know this young lady right here.' He said as he motioned to Mercy in his arms. We paid for the rooms. My friend looked nervous. I nudged her and whispered 'Remember he's married, which means he's off limits. If at anytime you get uncomfortable feel free to call me or Norman and we'll get you your own room. Kay?' She shook her head slowly.

I held Mercy while Norman and Sean were getting the bags out of the back of the car. 'Hey you girls want to go see what this town has to offer?' I heard Sean say. We looked at each other and shook our heads. We went out to see what was happening. We found this very low key restaurant and decided to eat because we were starving. We were sitting the enjoying our food and we ate and paid the check and headed back to the car and a bunch of women followed us out. They started screaming Norman's name. It still bothered me still that women would do that. I shrugged it off, until some random girl ran over and bummed me and almost caused me to fall, while holding my daughter mind you. They noticed Sean help me from falling. 'OH MY GOD! BOTH OF THE SAINTS!' some girl yelled and I hurried into the car. I was pissed off to the max. My friend noticed that I was pissed and told me 'It's going to be okay. It can't all be chaos like this right?' I looked at her and said 'You're kidding me right?! It's always the same shit. Try having your man wanted by everybody. Try having random women run up and almost push you down to get a picture with him. Did you see that random bitch? Shove me out of the way and I had a baby in my arms?! I honestly wish I would have said no to this whole thing. I hate it.' I looked at my phone we'd been stuck in the parking lot for almost 30 minutes. Norman got into the drivers seat and I had moved to the back seat. 'Babe anything wrong?' Norman said as he looked at me. I shook my head no. Mercy cried the whole way back to the hotel room. Norman tried to calm her down and couldn't nobody could but me. I shushed her to sleep and she fell right asleep in my arms, next thing I knew I fell asleep with my arms around her. Norman took a picture of the both of us 'First Family Vacation (sort of)'

I woke up the next morning to to the shower running and Mercy starting to cry. I sat up in the bed and rubbed my eyes and picked her up. She was still crying her head off, and I didn't know what was wrong. Norman got out of the shower and looked at me 'Whats the matter?' I looked at him and said 'I don't know what she wants. She doesn't want to eat, I changed her, I'm trying my best. I'm starting to think that this wasn't a good idea. She was getting used to the apartment. Remember how she cried the whole night straight when we moved her into her room and out of ours?' He looked at me with a puzzled look 'Let me see her.' He motioned to my arms. 'Shhh. Daddy's here. Daddy's here. Why are you so grumpy lately?' She kept crying while he was holding her. She looked up at him with those eyes and started to calm down a little bit. 'All she wanted to do was be held.' he said with a smirk. I looked at him as I was digging my clothes out of the suitcases. 'Well aren't you a smartass.' I said as I went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I quickly showered and got dressed and as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom I heard a knock on the door. Norman opened it and Sean was standing there with a smile on his face. 'Ready to do this thing?' - 'Yeah.' I grabbed the diaper bag, which was sort of a purse mixed with all the stuff I could fit into it, and headed out the door. We arrived at the convention center and I started to feel uneasy. First convention with Mercy and I was worried that something would go wrong. I went to grab her carrier out of the car and remembered that I had the baby sling and took both. Norman carried the carrier in and reached out his hand and I grabbed onto it and he could tell I was nervous. 'Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine.' I tried to smile. We hurried in

That night we got back to the hotel and I hurried inside and sat down on the bed and held Mercy in my arms and fed her. My best friend came in after me and Norman and Sean stood outside while Norman was smoking. We each had our own conversations. My friend noticed how attached I was to Mercy, but spoke up. 'You still angry about this whole thing?' - I looked at her with a look like (are you serious) 'I wished I hadn't even agreed to this. You heard her she cried all morning long. I got her to sleep lastnight and til we get back home and a little while after she's probably going to cry. She's 5 months old and she's going to get tons of chances to see the world but I don't think that this is the right time. I want Norman to be in her life, and I want her to be in his. When he's 1,000's of miles away I know he misses her.' She looked at me in the eyes 'I know you're scared. Hell, I'd be scared if I was in your shoes and my boyfriend/husband, was as in demand as he is. I saw how on edge you were today and that really showed when you asked me if I wanted to look around and we didn't meet back up with Norman and Sean until closing time.' I sighed and looked at her and said 'I.. I really wish I could be as happy as Norman is. I know most of his fans hate me or are jealous, but there's still some that send me positive messages. That shows a lot. I want to connect with them and try to not let the negativity of a few slow me down.' - 'Yeah. You don't need negativity in your life. I've got an idea. You up for something?' I saw her smirk on her face. 'What do you have planned?' I asked with an eyebrow raised. 'Well, what do you say.. you let Mercy sleep in mine and Sean's room tonight and you and Norman have a little fun? I know you're not one for makeup sex, but maybe a little alone time will make you both a little happier. Don't think of it as makeup sex. Regular sex. Just show me what to do to help her at night and let go for a night.' - I looked at her and almost laughed 'You two want to keep her for a night? Seriously? You think you're up to it?' - 'Dead serious. You two need to work on some issues. Not that sex solves problems. Just do it. Okay? Maybe talk it over after?' I started to take stuff out of the diaper bag to organize it. 'Diapers, bottle, milk, pacifiers, toys, blankets.' I handed it to my friend and said 'Everything you should need is in here. Um put the milk in the mini fridge and then run it under some warm water when she wants it. Um.. if she feels wet or anything you should change her (duh). Um she's probably going to have to sleep with one of you, or you can try your best to make her a make shift crib out of dresser drawers, since I didn't really want to carry that much stuff. Don't worry when we leave for GA in a few weeks she'll have her own bed.' - She looked at me funny and said 'You know I live with you guys and watch what you guys do with her right? I think I can manage. Plus Sean should know a little bit of this stuff. I'll be okay.' I hugged her tight and she carried Mercy to the door. I looked out the door and Sean and Norman were still having a conversation. They looked over at both of us.'What's going on?' Norman asked puzzled as he looked at my friend with all the baby stuff. 'Oh she said I could pretend to be a parent for a while. I wanted to look professional ya know? Mommy material.' I didn't even buy her story. 'Oh. Okay.' Norman said with an uneasy tone. I watched Sean lean over and whisper something in Norman's ear. I looked at the clock and noticed it was getting late. I kissed my daughter on the head and Sean hugged me and we said goodnight to each other. Me and Norman walked into our room and I walked into the bathroom and closed the door and had the water running acting like I was getting ready for bed. I breathed really hard at my reflection in the mirror. I heard the bed as Norman sat down on it. I decided to strip off all my clothes. I quickly turned off the light and unlocked the door and peeked out from behind it to see Norman looking at his phone. I decided to do something spontaneous and got down on all fours and crawled seductively over to him. He was to into his phone that he didn't even notice me crawling up to him. He noticed me and when he did the first words out of his mouth were 'I knew there was some other reason for her and Sean to baby sit.' I blushed. He pulled me into his lap I felt his erection on my thigh. 'I've noticed something ever since you've had our daughter.' I looked at him puzzled. 'You're horny a lot more since you've had her. I mean you were before, but whenever we get free time you-' I stopped him mid-sentence and grinded on him and felt him grow even bigger. 'So, are you going to say no to me or-' He took one hand and placed it between his bulge and my pussy and started to finger me. I gasped. He looked at my face as he did what he did and whispered in my ear 'You're going to be so sorry you even did this tomorrow.' I looked at him as he had that devilish smile. He kept doing this for a while and then suddenly pulled his hand away. I let out an annoyed grunt. 'Why did you have to do that?' I asked with a pissed off tone. He picked me up and put me on the bed while he went to get a condom out of one of the bags he brought. 'Always got to be prepared.' I laughed at him when he said that. He started to take off his pants and I sat there watching and when he finally removed everything and I saw him in all his glory standing in front of me. He told me to stand up and I stood up and he bent me over the bed face down and whispered in my ear 'If you cum before me.. you're going to regret it you understand?' I shook my head yes. The next thing I knew he was inside me and didn't even give me time to adjust to his size. He started thrusting into me with more force and I started crying from how good it felt. He was grunting his animistic grunts. 'Hard-Harder' I whispered under my breath. He did just as he was told. I was so close to orgasm. 'I- I'm fixin-fixing-' and just like that Norman pulled out of me. I was covered in sweat and face down in a pillow. Norman stood there looking at me. 'Why the fuck did you do that? I was so damn close.' - 'You wanted to be a tease, I'm going to show you what being a tease does to you.' He turned me over onto my back. He started kissing all over my neck and sucking on my breasts and I let out a moan. He started to finger me again and I grabbed his hand and helped him find the right spot. 'Right-Right there- Oh my- YES! YES! NORM-' and like that he took his hand away. 'Ready?' I shook my head yes and he slowly entered me. His thrusts were slow and steady and I wrapped my arms around him and dug my nails into his back. I could feel the heat from his skin. He was busy sucking on my neck and I couldn't help but to moan and I could feel his smile as he smiled on my skin. He stopped sucking on my neck and went down to my breasts and that's when I lost it. He stopped going slow and started thrusting into me with such force I let 'Ow' slip out. He pulled out and picked me up off the bed with my arms and legs wrapped around him and pinned me against the wall and started thrusting into me. I unhooked my legs and pushed Norman to the bed and he looked at me and I climbed on top of him and he grabbed my ass and lifted me up and down on him. 'Fuck girl you are way to damn good at this' is what he said through clenched teeth. I smiled. All of a sudden I felt the sensation inside of me and I started almost screaming until Norman covered my mouth to muffle the sounds. Soon after Norman went through the same thing I went through. I climbed off of his lap and he looked at me with those eyes. I noticed my phone was showing I had a message. Norman looked over at his and he had messages to. I looked at my phone and saw my friend sent me a message 'I guess it worked out?' I smiled and texted back quickly 'Yeah I guess it did. Is Mercy okay? We might come and get her. Oh wait. Never mind. Tomorrow. These sheets NEED to be washed so bad.' - Norman looked down at his phone and saw Sean sent him and message. 'I guess you're getting lucky. Oh wait I don't have to guess because I can hear you guys. Calm down. Some of us have kids. You guys are acting like teenagers. ;)' Norman laughed and texted back 'Hey some of us get tricked into these types of situations. What would you do if your girl came crawling up to you nude and climbed and started grinding in your lap? I'm only human.' Soon after that we both drifted off to sleep. The next morning we were woken up by knocking on the door. I opened my eyes and Norman woke up and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He opened the door slowly and I saw my friend holding Mercy who was sleeping so peacefully. I started to lean up and remembered what happened and clenched the sheets to my body. 'Um could you give me one minute?' I quickly grabbed the pillow and had it covering the parts of my body I didn't want to show anybody but Norman. I got out of the bed and I was sore, literally sore. I went and closed the bathroom door and yelled for Norman to pick out an outfit and hand it to me. He handed me an outfit and I quickly showered and came out and had a look on my face. Norman looked at me and smirked. I looked at him and blushed. I sat down on the bed and he ran into the shower and hurried to get ready. I picked up my phone and waited for Norman to get out of the shower and he hurried and got dressed and he and I stood infront of the bathroom mirror and I held Mercy and let Norman try his best to take a selfie of the three of us. Sean came in and looked at me and Norman and said 'Well you two seem happy. What happened lastnight?' Me and Norman looked at each other and smiled and said 'Well...when two people love each other very much they...' and Sean cut us off. 'I don't even want to know.' I picked up everything and headed to the car. Norman let me walk infront of him and stopped me when I was putting Mercy in her carseat. 'You okay? You hurt yourself?' I looked at him and said 'Yeah I did. But it was totally worth it.' I kissed him and smiled. I got into the car and he slapped my ass. I looked at him and said 'Just for the record Norman.. I'm bringing our daughter back into our room tonight so don't think about it. One night was long enough.' We drove the whole way to the convention in silence, well besides our horrible singing to the songs on the radio. I was looking down at my phone and saw my friend was looking out one window and Sean out the other, like they were avoiding each other. I texted her 'Whats going on between you and Sean? You guys look like you are trying to avoid each other.' - She texted me back 'Is it that obvious?' - I texted back 'Oh so something did happen. What happen? You guys get into a fight?' - 'No, not exactly. I.. well I sort of had to go to the bathroom and I really had to go and I went into the bathroom and he was coming out of the shower and... yeah. I said I was sorry and we sort of laughed it off but it's awkward.' - I looked back in the back seat and saw her look up from her phone with a worried look.

We got to the convention and I got the stuff out of the car and I carried Mercy in sat down at Norman's booth. I tried to find a comfortable spot. I kept moving. Norman looked at me and laughed 'Come on its not that bad. Is it?' I looked at him with a look. 'You will never know this pain. You couldn't handle having one of these things. Trust me. Look, it may hurt but I don't regret it. We needed that lastnight.' He looked at me and smiled and kissed me and kissed Mercy's head. 'I think I might stick around for a while and then have girl time. Honestly this is great and all but you boys are cramping our style.' I said with a laugh. Mercy was fine until people started coming around and talking and screaming. I decided now would be the best time to try to get some girl time. 'What time do you and Sean go to lunch?' I asked Norman. 'I think 2 something? Why?' Norman said. 'Eh Mercy is fixing to start having a fit and I think I'm just going to go look around. Is that okay?' - He looked at me 'Why are you asking my permission? Of course you can. Have fun. Oh and don't bite people's heads off will you?' - I smirked back and him and kissed him and left with my friend. 'So how was she lastnight?' I asked. 'Eh she was fine. We did what you said and it worked. She got a little fussy but you left this in your bag.' My friend said as she handed me my MP3 player and earbuds. That calmed her down more than anything. We started looking at all kinds of stuff. Since my friend was a big book nerd I let went with her to see some authors that they had. We went around to the different vendors that they had. 'So did you and Norman solve your issues or not?' - 'We didn't even get to talk about it. He knows how I am though.' We ended up going back to the table and I held Mercy and watched Norman interact with fans. I had this young girl come up to me and look me in the face and say 'I follow you on Instagram. I didn't know if you would be here but I wanted to give Norman this to give to you, but I guess I'll give it to you.' I smiled and took what she handed to me. It was a beautiful pink blanket with Mercy stitched onto it. I started to sort of cry and handed Mercy to my friend and came around to the other side of the table and gave her a hug. She asked if we could get a picture together and I said 'Sure' with a smile and she asked if Norman could be in it with her. Norman and I got next to her and she took the picture. 'Thank you.' She gave Norman a hug and then me. 'Thank you again. For a first time mom, you're doing great with her. All Norman ever posts anymore is of you and her. It was nice meeting you. Have fun. Take care of her.' I smiled and said 'Thank you.' We sat there for a while and I looked at my friend who was in awe over Mercy. Her facial expressions kept making me laugh. 'I can't believe she's already 5 months. It seems like the other day you were telling me and Richard that you were pregnant and worried how you were going to tell Norman about it.' - 'Yeah. I didn't think time would fly by like this, but it really has. I mean I wish I could just keep her this size and old forever, but that's not fair.' - 'So have you and Norman talked about anymore or-' - 'Well, we sort of did. He knows I want atleast one more. Our age difference is the major factor. He knows that I'm younger than him and that I want the chance to be a mom, but he doesn't want to die before the child is ready you know? Like halfway to 18 and he dies. He wants to actually be able to do stuff with our kids. If it doesn't happen, she's got an awesome brother in Mingus.' - 'Yeah I understand. I can't disagree there. He's really hands on and not many siblings like it when a new sibling gets introduced.' - 'I miss it though. I miss her kicking me when I did something wrong, when I ate something she didn't like. Waking me up in the middle of the night, well she still does but still. I still hold my stomach when I sleep. Norman still puts his hand on my stomach. I mean when I thought I was pregnant again I didn't really want to be, but then I thought about my first pregnancy and...' - 'I'm pretty sure you two will have another one, hell after lastnight I'm sure of it.' I blushed.

'Alright lunchtime!' Norman said to me. I was hungry to say the least. We tried to figure out what we should do for lunch. We got some food from the food court and headed back to the area where the celebrities end up going for breaks and such. I was becoming an expert at feeding Mercy while trying to feed myself. I always put Mercy ahead of myself so I would normally wait til it was okay for me to eat. We chilled out for a while and we were fixing to go back out to face the mob that was waiting. Norman grabbed my arm and turned me around. 'Can I talk to you?' I shook my head and turned around and faced him. 'Listen, I heard what you said. Whenever you want to attempt to give her a brother or sister we'll try it okay? This isn't a 'I want to have sex without a condom' thing either. Whenever you want to try, we can. I can't promise that it won't always be this crazy, but I want to make you happy.' - 'Norm, I don't want to have a baby with you because you think its what I want. Even if it doesn't happen, she's got a kickass brother who loves her. If it happens, then it happens. If not, then that's how it's supposed to be. I'm still going to love you, if we have or if we don't have another child. As far as I'm concerned I've got a complete family already, hell as soon as you asked me to move in and I got to know Mingus he adopted me. We're a family. I'm just going to live life as I want and if I get pregnant again I do, and if not that's fine with me.' I hugged him and I looked down at Mercy and back at him. 'We should be proud and happy we have her, so many people can't have atleast one. Screw that the condom broke and we ended up with her. As far as I'm concerned, she wasn't an accident she's the best thing I've had happen to me besides meeting you.' Sean came in and said 'Come on what are you guys doing? We've got tons of people out there waiting.' We hurried out and Norman acted like a kid in a candy store he was so happy. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the booth and gave me a kiss on the cheek in-front of hundreds of people. I sat down and smiled, even if the people didn't like me I didn't care at this point. I wasn't here to impress these people or gain supporters, I was here to support Norman. I noticed my friend wasn't there, and I got a text message from her saying she was okay and talking to this guy and he was showing interest in her. I smiled down at the phone because I was happy she was trying to find someone besides her dick of an ex. We finished the day up and picked up everything and headed back to the car. 'Well, 1 more day left to go folks!' I said with a laugh.

The next day I didn't move when the alarm went off. I was tired. Norman rolled over and turned the phone alarm off and got up out of the bed and stumbled over to the suitcases and picking out clothes for today. I didn't even stir. Mercy was fast asleep on the pillow beside me. Norman took a picture of the two of us 'I guess these two are sleeping through the last day of the convention. Haha.' Norman went into the bathroom and took a shower. Mercy started crying and I woke up and rubbed my eyes and picked her up. 'Shh.' I went and tried to find where we put the diapers and I found them and changed her just as Norman was coming out of the bathroom. I looked at him and blinked and yawned. 'Ya know I'm never going to get used to these things.' - 'Yeah you will, you got used to them before and you're going to catch on quickly. Plus just think of it as us being at home but we have to go to some place over and over.' I just looked at him and I could tell he was tired. She cried all night long. I wanted to stay in bed but I wanted to go see the excitement one more day. I was slowly moving and I heard beating on the door. I rolled my eyes and picked Mercy up and opened the door slightly and Sean was on the other-side 'Well you going to invite us in or.. should we come back later?' - I rolled my eyes again and walked away from the door. He looked at me and Norman and said 'Man you look like crap. Both of you. Long night?' Norman looked down at me still in my pajamas. I handed Mercy to him and hurried to the bathroom to get a quick shower and change. I came out in a pair of jeans and one of Norman's shirts. He looked at me funny. 'What? I like how your shirts feel okay? They cover up this extra weight I still have. Do you want me to change?' - 'Nah that's fine. You can always wear my shirts better than me.'

We arrived at the convention and hurried in and set everything up. Mercy cried the whole car ride and I carried her to the bathroom and tried to nurse her and and she kept pushing me away. She had never done that before, I was starting to feel uneasy. I quickly raced back to Norman's booth and noticed my friend was gone. I saw Norman interacting with fans and I didn't want to bother him. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and saw it was my friend texting 'OMG remember that cute guy that came up to me yesterday? I met him again today. We're having lunch and talking about books and movies. This guy is cute!' I smiled and tried to hurry back to the table. Norman looked at me and smiled and when I didn't smile back he whispered to me and I whispered back that she wouldn't eat anything. I told him I changed her and everything and she ultimately cried herself to sleep. I kept looking at her and trying to figure out why she didn't want to eat. She struggled in her sleep and she kept putting her fingers in her mouth and I went through my mind that she might have been teething. She slept for a few minutes and then woke up crying. I grabbed the bottle out of the bag and she took that and started drinking the milk and acted like she was chewing. I had one hand leaned on the table feeding her and and my phone went off. I saw it was my friend and she said 'OMG I think this guy likes me. Haha.' I smiled and texted back. I looked up and saw her coming back to the table and she asked if I wanted to meet him. I picked Mercy up and carried her over and the guy smiled at me. I could totally see why she liked this guy, he was cute. He introduced himself and looked over my shoulder at Norman and pointed 'So you're the girl they keep talking about that's with Norman Reedus.' I blushed and said 'That's me. The girl that all the fangirls are sending threats to. Haha. Yeah I'm weird. But, me and Norman are an item I guess is what people say? Couple is out apparently.' I shifted Mercy in my arms and she didn't want the bottle anymore. She sort of fell asleep. He looked at me and I said 'Oh. This is Mercy.' He smiled at me and I could tell even more why my friend was attracted to him. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Sean was going over and goofing off with Norman. I excused myself and winked at my friend and hugged her and told her friend that it was nice to meet him. I walked over and Sean was still over with Norman and he sat down in my seat and I didn't realize and I went over to put Mercy in her carrier and Sean grabbed me around the waist. My eyes went wide and Norman just looked at me with a funny look. I was still in amazement at this whole situation. Norman went over and grabbed my waist and let me sit in his lap. I started laughing and he kissed my cheek. I loved him when he did cute stuff like this. I heard Mercy start crying and Sean picked her up before I could. He looked at her and she was almost screaming. He looked at me and Norman with a look of uneasiness. I got up and picked her up and whispered in his ear that she was starting teething.I sat there for the rest of the day and tried to keep Mercy calm. I figured out that she was bothering people and I went and sat in the back area. I couldn't get her to calm down at all. Norman came over on his break and asked me why she was crying so much and I told him how I thought she was teething and he looked at her with a sad look and picked her up and snuggled her. 'I know it hurts sweetheart.' I handed Norman the bottle and said she kept chewing on it while she was drinking and he tried to get her to chew on the bottle but she wouldn't and I remembered I had a pacifier in my bag and gave it to him and she took it and acted like she was chewing on it. I sort of smiled. We sat down and didn't even eat anything and just tried our best to keep her calm. The three of us traded off and my friend came in and asked what was wrong. I told her what was happening and Norman's phone went off. He handed Mercy to me and picked up the phone. I could tell that is was Mingus just by the way Norman was talking. 'Hey buddy. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, we might end up staying a few days, but I think your sister really wants to come home. She's been okay except for the last couple days. Guess what? She's got teeth coming in we think. If things don't go perfect tonight we'll be on our way home. I've got cute pictures that I'll text you kay? Say hi to your mom for me. Alright. Talk to you later buddy.'

After the final people left the lines we tried to find something that would sooth Mercy's pain and found a couple baby stores and a few teething toys and some ointment that you rub on her gums and its supposed to sooth the pain. If this worked we'd stay a few days if not then we'd pack up and head home. She'd sleep for a while and then wake up in pain, I looked at Norman who looked at me 'How the hell did you handle this the first time?' He shrugged his shoulders and said 'I tried to help out and calm him down, and tried my best. There's really nothing you can do. Its coming through the skin. Like you saw today she'll cry herself to sleep. The ointment only lasts a few seconds and then boom the pain comes back.' He looked at me and I almost started crying with her and whispered 'Its okay baby. Shhh. Mommy is here. Don't cry please.' Norman sat down next to me and I looked up at him 'Why do they have to go through this?' - 'Part of growing up I guess.' We headed to the hotel and I looked through the phone book they provided in the room for a Children's Doctor and I found one and I told Norman we needed to go get her looked at. We got back into the car and we filled out a bunch of papers and they called us back and they checked her out and everything looked like it was fine and they checked and said they felt a little bump and that she was getting her baby teeth. I looked at Norman and whispered 'This is happening so fast.' The doctor gave us some stuff to give her to try to cut down on the pain it was sort of like the stuff she already had. We got back to the hotel, yet again, and tried to settle in for the night. I snuggled up next to Mercy and she grabbed my hair and started pulling on it. I just smiled at her, she was all I ever wanted. Norman laid down next to her, and she grabbed his hair and started pulling on it to. I saw him smile and he looked at the clock and noticed it was still kind of early. He looked at me and asked if I wanted anything to eat, and I shrugged my shoulders. He texted Sean and ended up ordering at some local place. By the time he got back with the food I was asleep with Mercy. He let Sean and my friend in and told them to be quiet and pointed to me on the bed. They ate quietly and I slept through it all, and the next thing I remember is Norman kissing my forehead and crawling in bed next to me. Mercy stirred in her sleep but Norman wrapped his arms around both of us, I smiled as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning and looked over Norman had Mercy snuggled up next to him on the pillow. I smiled and kissed both of their foreheads and I walked into the bathroom and took a shower and I got dressed, I walked out and saw Norman and Mercy were still fast asleep. I took a picture of both of them and captioned it 'My love bugs are still fast asleep. Why am I up this early?' A few minutes later I heard a loud cry and I looked over and Mercy was kicking and screaming. I went to pick her up and Norman let out a loud groan. I held Mercy in my arms and looked down at her as she looked up at me with those blue eyes of hers. I shushed her and started to feed her and Norman smiled at me. 'Are you sure you've never had a kid before?' he asked me with a brow raised. I shook my head. 'I've never had one before, but I've baby sat a few times. I guess that's where I get my motherly instincts? I mean I wanted kids, but then I didn't know if I'd be fit enough to be a mother, but I've got someone who is going to call me mommy one day.' He smiled at me. 'So are we going to head back to NY today or spend a few more days out here?' - I looked at him and said 'Maybe a few more days? I want her to see the beach. I want her to see something new and not the same thing she's going to see every day. If not we can head back, its up to you.' - 'We can stay a few more days.' he said with a smile. I heard a knock on the door and Norman got up and opened it and Sean was standing there with my friend behind him. I smiled at both of them, and I asked if they wanted to be there when Mercy visits her first beach. We headed out to find the nearest beach, and it was about 80 degrees and burning up. I quickly put Mercy in her little sundress that I can't believe Norman even bought since it was super super girly, but it was cute so I couldn't complain. I put a little sunblock on her and covered her little head up with a hat. I carried her and put her on the sand and sat behind her and she got out of my arms and started to crawl. I started crying. My baby was growing up and I couldn't stop it. I went over and picked her up and just l held her. I took her to the water and let her just play near the edge and she started screaming. I took her back and she was fine. I let Sean take her because he wanted to play with her. I looked at Norman and smiled. Norman took a picture of Sean playing or trying his best to play with her. 'Uncle Sean seems to be doing his job today. First ever visit to the beach with my girls.'

We stayed in Florida a few days and ended up coming home and within a week Norman was packing his bags to go to some promotion thing for Walking Dead. I made very clear that I was staying home since Mercy was cranky and NY to California was a long ass drive so I was going to give him his space. We said our goodbyes and separated. Each time he left to do something without me, I felt horrible because I was supposed to be by his side through every single thing and Mercy held me back so much. I knew Norman was heart broken half the time when I didn't go somewhere with him. As soon as he left I held Mercy and watched her look at me and start crying. I put her down on the bed and crawled up beside her and held her and cried with her. I looked over at my hand and saw the ring on my finger, and thought about everything that ring represented. I guess we both cried ourselves to sleep because next thing I remember my friend was coming into the room and woke me up. 'You're alive!' - I just looked at her with a look like why wouldn't I be. 'Norman called me frantic. He said he called you like 5 times and you didn't pick up.' I picked up my phone and sure enough there were 5 missed calls. I sat up and called him back. He picked up the phone almost out of breath. 'Hey!' - 'Hi.' I said back. 'So you're alive? Why didn't you pick up the phone? Your friend said you were crying your eyes out. Are you okay?' - 'Yeah. I'm fine. Mercy was crying because of her teeth and I cried with her. Nothing major. We ended up falling asleep I think.'


	14. Just a Car Crash Away

It was already May which meant that our little bundle of joy was already 6 months old and I couldn't contain myself. We were set to go to GA while Norman filmed for Walking Dead. I had all of our bags packed and everything ready. Mercy was still working on getting her teeth, so we still had to deal with that. I made sure we had everything we would need for the long trip. I made sure Mercy had her stuffed animals and other random items. I decided that since nobody would be at home that Eye was making the long trip with us also. I carefully gathered up his toys and packed them away. I stuffed all the stuff in the back of the car. I put Mercy in her carseat and made sure she was buckled in perfectly and she grabbed my hair and started pulling on it and I just started smiling and laughing and playing with her and making her laugh. Any day now she was going to be saying her first words. I dreaded that moment but also looked forward to it. I wondered what her first word would be. Dada? Mama? Or something completely random? I decided that I wanted to stay close to my daughter and she grabbed my hand and smiled up at me. Norman got into the drivers seat and looked in the mirror and saw me in the back seat. He apparently could tell by my facial expression that I was trying to keep her calm. My friend asked me if she could sit in the front seat and I let her. Mercy was just talking up a storm, the best she could, as we left. She had her fingers wrapped around my fingers and I just couldn't help but smile.

It was soon Mothers Day and I was so thankful that I got to spend this day with my beautiful little girl. I was looking back at the pictures of me at this time last year. I uploaded a picture of last year and this year with the caption 'Can't believe this time last year I was pregnant and now my lovebug is here and going to be 6 months this month!' I snuggled her as close as I could. It was still a tug of war between me and Norman to hold her. We both wanted to hold her at the same time, but it was more of a game between the two of us. We were always happy when she was around. That was something I noticed since I had her, we both smiled a little bit more. I guess I didn't know true love until I got her in my arms. I mean of course me and Norman argued but we always made up and it was because she did something cute. It was like she was saying 'Mom and Dad don't argue look I'll entertain you guys.' I needed to go get something from the store and I wanted to do it while Norman was filming and get back when he was on a break. I got into the car and put Mercy into her seat and hugged my best friend and Mingus and said I'd be back in a few minutes. I tried to figure out which store to go to, since I wanted to cook dinner tonight and no order out like we did the previous times and since Norman was working I didn't want him to stress out trying to figure out what we were going to eat. I quickly got Mercy out of the car seat and went into the store and picked up a few items and paid for them and hurried back out to the car. I noticed a group of people standing around a few cars with cameras. 'Shit' I uttered under my breath. I thought since I went quite a way from set that these vultures wouldn't be a problem. They noticed I was by the car and rushed up to me. I tried my best to put Mercy into her car seat and hurry back to set. They rushed the car and I drove off and was driving the normal speed and all of a sudden all I remembered was a car hitting the drivers side of the car, when it was my green light. The next thing I remember was being put into an ambulance and hearing crying. I looked over at the EMT sitting next to me who had Mercy in her carseat. 'My.. my baby. Is she okay?!' - 'She's fine ma'am. You took the blunt of the crash.' - 'Wha- what?! Can you please call my boyfriend?! Please. My phone is in my purse.' The next thing I knew I blacked out.

I woke up in a hospital bed with Norman in the chair next to me with Mercy asleep on his chest. My friend was sitting in the chair next to Norman. Mingus was sitting in the floor across from me and looked up and saw that I was awake and ran up to me and hugged me and I cringed because my whole body hurt. Norman woke up from the nap he was apparently taking and I smiled at him. 'You're awake! How are you feeling?' - 'Sore. How bad is it?' - 'Pretty bad. You needed stitches on your head, a lot. You manged to break your arm. Tons of bruises. You got a black eye and minor cuts and scrapes. You sort of messed your legs up, but they said you should be able to walk without a problem.' I broke down and cried. 'Hey. You're okay. Our daughter is okay. It's okay. We'll get through this.' - 'Can I please hold her?' Norman placed Mercy on my chest and I just looked down at her asleep. 'How much milk does she have left at home? Cause they said until your pain meds get out of your system you can't nurse her.' I looked at Norman with a worried look on my face. 'I tried to save up as much as I could so I sort of mixed it all together. Plus I have that one bottle she didn't finish. You think that's enough? When can I get out of here? I wanna go home.' - 'They said a few more days. If they see that you're healing and can function you can leave within a few days.'

I stayed in the hospital for about 3 days. I had bruises up and down my body and my head still hurt. I was so ready to sleep in my own bed, and just cover up with my blankets. Norman dropped me off at home before heading to set which I encouraged him to do. He carried me to the bedroom and made sure I was comfy before heading off. I kissed him goodbye and had Mercy next to me who was asleep. We curled up together and I fell asleep. I didn't know how long I was out until I felt Norman lightly get into the bed. My eyes opened slowly and 'Hey' slipped out. I tried to sit up but I hurt to bad. I didn't know what time it was but I could only imagine it was late since he was home. I didn't see Mercy where I left her, and my heart started racing. 'WHERE'S MERCY?!' He tried to calm me down 'She's okay. She's been gone most of the day from what I've heard. I came in and she was asleep on the blanket your friend had her on in the floor. I think Mingus has her right now. Do you want me to go get her from him?' I shook my head. 'No. I trust him. It's just after this whole thing I don't want her out of my line of sight.' - 'I went and took a look at the damage and it's a miracle you both survived. Especially you.' - 'How.. how bad is it?' I looked at the picture on Norman's phone and the entire drivers side was mangled. 'Oh my.. God. How did I... how did she?' - 'I was met by a local police officer who responded to the scene and he said that the driver was going about 30 over the speed limit plus they found an open container in the car.' - 'I know this is weird.. but is that asshole okay?' - 'Yeah, he's perfectly fine. Only a few bruises, cuts and scrapes. Nothing compared to you. I think the only thing that saved Mercy was her carseat was on the other side of the car.'

I went in for a test to see if any of the drugs that they had to give me after the accident was still in my system and I was relieved to be told that it was fine to go back and nurse Mercy. My arm was still healing so nothing much could be done about that. My bruises were still visible, and I wanted to cry. 'You're beautiful. These bruises will disappear. You're beautiful no matter what. You always have been and always will be.' Norman said putting Mercy down next to me and wrapping his arms around me. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have a man like him who always supported me no matter what the situation. I laid my head on his shoulder and just took in his musk and let out a sigh. Mercy started to wake up and I grabbed for her. I looked down at her with her little eyes just shining. She was getting so big and I couldn't handle it. She reached up to grab my hair. I smiled and just nuzzled her. I looked over and saw Norman smiling. 'What?' I looked at him with a funny look on my face. 'Nothing. You're just perfect with her. You just jumped right into this motherhood thing when you found out you were pregnant. Like you just thought about her well being and didn't care what other people thought.' I smiled. 'I've never been a mom before trust me. I mean my ex wanted us to have a kid because we had so many problems and he thought us having a kid would solve all our issues, but I never let it happen because I didn't think it was right for a child to be a pawn for us to stay together. It was a reason we broke up honestly. I had a pregnancy scare and found out that he lied when he said he was wearing a condom. After I had the scare I just kept using the 'headache' excuse and came home from work and he was screwing a random girl in our bed. I packed up and left that night. I wouldn't give him a kid and he did that. I was smart enough to not bring a child into that environment and it cost me that relationship.' I sighed. 'It happens to the best of us.' he said. I shook my head 'It cost me a shitty relationship that was fixing to end anyways. It led me to meeting you and look at me, I'm happy and we have a beautiful lil girl.' I leaned over and kissed him. 'Hey, it's his loss honestly.' He said as he kissed my forehead and leaned down and kissed Mercy as she grabbed his hair. I let him take her while I went to the bathroom.

Norman had to head back to NY for an art show. I wanted to go with him, but since he was having to fly back to NY and then back here I had to stay here. He had a few friends looking around for a decent car. Norman kept posting photos from the whole show and I couldn't help but smile. My man was enjoying himself. He finished up the show and said he was going to spend the next day relaxing because he was worn out. The day after that he was on a plane and head back to us. He went to look at a few cars and didn't really find anything that he was interested in. He kept texting me photos asking which I thought was cute. I kept texting him back 'I don't really think any car is cute. Maybe the person in the driver seat is cute, but that's it. ;)' - 'Haha. Very cute you smarty butt. Seriously we need a new car unless you wanna stay here forever.' - 'Get whatever one you want. After all you're paying for it. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.'


	15. Awards & Announcements

June was already here and Mercy was already 7 months old. It seemed like time was going to fast. It seemed like the other day she was just born, and now she's crawling and trying to stand up and saying a few words that normal children her age say. I was so proud to be this lil cutie's mother and I noticed I was smiling all the time. Life was going pretty good for me, I had a beautiful daughter and a wonderful boyfriend and a wonderful stepson and friends who supported me no matter what. I just couldn't imagine my life getting anymore perfect than it already is.

Norman wasn't as busy this month which meant tons of family time. He always made sure we had a little bit of quality time. I was surprised when he said he was going to be an award presenter for some award show. I asked him which show and he replied with a smile on his face "The CMT Awards." I looked at him with a puzzled look "Are you serious? Ha." He looked back at me "Completely and it's going to be held in Nashville and I wanted you to come along and maybe show me a few things?" I started feeling uneasy. "Umm uh... well Norm.. I.. I.." Relax this isn't a ploy to get you to talk to your parents about our family. I sighed. "It's just... when I fell in love with you they thought because of our age difference that all you wanted was some young girl on your arm. That you were this sick perverted 40 something year old after younger women... I tried to explain but they wouldn't have it." - "Relax babe. I just want you to be able to feel a little beautiful since ever since you got pregnant and had our beautiful daughter you don't feel that way." I went up and hugged him and buried my face in his shirt. I looked up at him and he cupped my face and kissed me hard. I looked up at him and smiled and blushed. "So you gonna go with me?" He said with a smile. I shook my head. "Of course." I heard Mercy start crying and went to go check on her. I picked her up and changed her and began to nurse her "Mercy can you please be a little bit more gentle? Mommy's really sore." I whispered to her. For some odd reason my boobs were super sensitive. Of all the time I'd been nursing they've never been this sore. I sat there nursing her for a few minutes and it was unbearable. I tried to make her let go of me and I quickly went and got her a bottle. I brought her into the bedroom and Norman saw me and offered to take her for a little while. 'Still sore?' - 'Yeah.. the pain is unbearable. It's.. weird.' - 'Do you want to go to the doctor? Maybe something is wrong?' I looked up at Norman with a serious look 'I'm just shooting off things here... maybe it's just how you're feeding her. Maybe it's because of how much I um.. mess with them during sex?' I looked at Norman 'Maybe... I don't know. They've never been this sore. The only time they were ever sore was when I was pregnant.'

Norman looked at me in bed that night with a puzzled look on his face. 'What?' I asked in a low whisper. 'Nothing..' He said his eyes trailing down my body. 'Just spit it out. Okay?' I said with a little annoyance in my voice. 'It's just...' he said as he put his hand on my stomach. 'You said your boobs were never this sore before you got pregnant.. maybe you're..' - 'Oh come on Norman! I'm not pregnant. I'm not. It's probably just because I'm nursing her a whole bunch. I'm going to try to get her eating baby food. Besides... there's no way I could be. I'm not. I... I can't be.' I burst out crying. 'There's that slight chance.. remember when we both were turned on and Mercy had just went to sleep and you kept leading me on? We rushed into the bedroom and you didn't give me a chance and you said that if I pulled out and all that junk. We had unprotected sex that night. There's that chance. But if you don't think you are.. it's up to you.' - 'I'm not pregnant. Understand?' - 'Sure. I understand.' Norman kissed me and I curled up into his side. I laid there listening to his shallow breaths thinking 'What if he's right?' 'What if I'm pregnant again?' I found myself rubbing my stomach. I heard Norman grunting in his sleep and leaned up and kissed him and I found him pull me on top of him. I looked through the darkness into his eyes and he into mine. I leaned down and kissed him. I listened for a little while making sure Mercy was still fast asleep. I saw Norman try to get my top off. I helped him with it, and he smiled when he saw my bare chest. His hands went immediately to massaging them. I started moaning at the movements of his hands. I started to pull my underwear off and I felt Norman's erection growing in his pajama pants. I slid one hand down his pants and began massaging him and his hand went straight to my bareness and I felt one finger enter and I smiled at him. This was nothing out of the usual for us watching each other get off and enjoy each other. Norman quickly tried to get his pants off and went into the dresser drawer next to the bed and pulled out a condom. I took it from him and put it back. 'Babe.. what are you...' I started grinding on him. I attacked his neck with kisses and went and leaned down and kissed him and said into his mouth 'Fuck... I... we...' I couldn't even finish my sentence. 'Babe.. what if I cum and you get preg-' I moved my hips a little more 'I honestly could care less at this point. If you want to you can put one on.' I got off him and he started putting one on. I laid over next to him and started playing with myself and he looked over and saw the ecstasy that I was getting from just myself. He smiled and he just watched me. I kept going until I felt my orgasm come on and Norman just watched as I came down from it. 'That's what happens when you stop. Understand?' I said as Norman crawled over the top of me and I bit his lip. 'I love watching you get yourself off. Understand?' Norman said. I blushed. Norman let me adjust to his size and then started thrusting into me with hard thrusts. I let out a moan each time. 'Babe.. please.. make it last longer.. I'm going to...' as soon as I uttered it I felt him pull out. 'What...what...the...fuck...' I breathed out. Norman slowly entered me again and I let moans escape again. We both had our orgasms hit and I slowly let him leave me. I laid there panting and covered in sweat and looked at Norman and said 'I'm glad you and me and Mercy are the only people home...' - 'Me too babe. Me too.' I laid there trying to catch my breath when I heard a cry from the other room. I quickly grabbed whatever I had near me and went to check on Mercy. I brought her into the bedroom with Norman and he was slowly getting dressed, well he had his underwear on. He looked at me holding our daughter and just said 'You two are the most beautiful girls I've ever seen.' He grabbed his phone and took a picture of me with my hair a mess and barely clothed. I just looked down at Mercy having not a care in the world as she continued nursing. After she got a full belly I put her back in her crib and crawled back into bed as Norman wrapped his arms around me.

Norman and I packed things up. We were supposed to be heading to Nashville but Norman had to make a quick trip to set cause they needed to film a quick thing with him. He let me get in the car and I watched him get into the car. 'When we get to set I'm going to pick up one of my bikes I keep there and take it to Nashville. Is that okay with you?' I looked at him and shook my head 'Yeah. A nice drive through the country might clear that head of yours.' I said as I brushed his hair out of his eyes. I looked back at Mercy playing with her toys and at Eye asleep in his carrier. We drove and stopped a few places but we finally made it to set a little bit before schedule. Norman shot his scenes and I let Mercy play with the babies that take turns playing Judith and enjoyed the interactions that they shared with each other. I was talking to some other females who were part of the crew and they looked at me 'You know you're lucky as hell right? You're dating like the #1 sexiest man on TV right now. You're the mother of his daughter. Haha.' I laughed. 'You girls think it's all fun and games but he's different when he's behind closed doors. He does crazy things, says crazy things, etc.' I looked over and saw Norman goofing off with Greg and Andrew. It was pretty early in the morning I excused myself and found a make shift bathroom and ended up puking my guts out. I cleaned myself up and went back over to where the women were huddled around the babies. Mercy started crawling over to me when she saw me coming back. I picked her up and snuggled her 'Ready to go sweetheart?' - 'So.. where are you and Norman going this time?' I heard one ask. 'Eh Nashville. He's presenting for some awards show. I don't even fully understand how he got the job.' I trailed off and then I felt arms around my waist and turned around and it was Norman. I laughed and kissed him. He interacted with the other women before going to go get his bike he kept in a travel trailer along with the spare bikes they use for Daryl's. He sat down and put Mercy in his lap and his helmet on her head. I took a quick picture and said 'I think our lil girl is trying super hard to be like her daddy. This is what I'm dealing with right now from set.' Norman snuggled her tight and kissed her and put her in her car seat. He let Eye out of his carrier to use the bathroom and put him back in the car and fed him. I hugged Norman and kissed him and told him I loved him. We were off to Nashville. Norman had us stop a few times to stretch our legs. I let Norman go change her since he wasn't spending time with her on this trip. He came out and was putting Mercy back into her carseat and some fans came running up to him. He barely got the door shut before they started screaming. I heard Mercy start to cry. I leaned over and tried my best to get her to calm down. Norman was trying patiently to take photos and sign autographs. I looked at Mercy and started to break down. This was no life for a child. To have people scream around them to rush them. Hell even before she came into this world I would be out with Mingus shopping and fans would rush him. He tried to remain calm but I saw he was uncomfortable. I got a bad reputation with fans when some people came running up to him and I looked at them and said 'He's a kid. He's a human. He's not a fucking robot. Don't rush up to him asking him questions and everything else. How would you feel if someone came up and did that to you? What if they did that to your child? Norman may like the attention, but ya know what sometimes when he's out eating he wants to eat and pay his check and go home. He loves his fans, but he would not like what you're doing to his son.' They walked away mumbling stuff about how I was a bitch and how I was just using Norman for the money and publicity. Which was the exact opposite of why I was with Norman. - Norman finished what he was doing and checked on Mercy and me. 'I just wish they'd not rush up to the car like that. She gets scared each time they do that' I looked at Norman and he looked at Mercy who was cranky and throwing her toys in the floor. 'It's how they react. I've had fans who when they learn I'm somewhere stand by the bathrooms and rush me. You wouldn't believe the stuff some of them do. You were one of them at one time remember? How we met.' I smiled looking down. 'Yeah me being my clumsy self and trying to get coffee for the people at my job and I was running late and I fell on the streets of Nashville and you came rushing over to me. My paper work was all over the side walk stained with the coffee I was carrying. You helped me get everything all settled and I called in that day and we sat at that coffee shop talking. I freaked out and couldn't form a sentence. Now look at us. Just from that meeting I quit my job and came with you to New York and we've got a beautiful daughter.' I kissed him and we got back on the road.

Finally we made it to Nashville. We got booked into a hotel and I plopped down on the bed. We wanted to go sight see, but we were way to tired. The next morning we went out to explore and ended up on a certain street and I ran down it and looked and saw the sign for the coffee shop which was still in business. 'OH MY GOD NORMAN!' I screamed. Norman looked at me with a smile on my face. 'ITS STILL HERE! ITS STILL HERE!' I started crying. Norman got out his phone and I held Mercy and just smiled. 'While we're in Nashville we just had to come see if this place was still here. It was. This place will always hold a special place in my heart, because it's where I met the love of my life.' He took a few more. One of us kissing each other, one of us kissing Mercy. I went in and the place still looked the same. We ordered up a few drinks and motioned to an empty table. I saw Norman just smile. 'What?' I said as I took a sip of my drink. 'It's just... we're back here. Where it all started. And we've got her.' He said and he shifted Mercy in his arms and she started to laugh. I started to laugh. I took a picture of Norman playing with Mercy and posted it with the caption 'Father & Daughter Love. I love these 2 in my life.' I took Mercy from Norman and started snuggling her. Norman took a picture of us. 'Back to where it begin with my 2 beautiful girls.' We finished our drinks and got up and was fixing to leave. I had to go to the bathroom I ended up getting sick again. I thought maybe I got some sort of bug being around a bunch of random people as much as a I am. I put it behind me. I left a short while later and me and Norman were walking along the streets. I think the best part of Nashville was... not many people coming up to us. I mean a few people sort of stopped us but not a lot. We went back to the hotel and chilled out until the awards show. I got into my dress, that Norman surprised me with. I looked in the mirror and my boobs were huge. 'Norm- I'm not going. I'm not putting my boobs out there for people to talk about on the internet tomorrow.' Norman looked so handsome in his suit. I kissed him and saw Mercy asleep on the bed. Norman picked her up and carried her into the bathroom and I saw him come out with her dressed in a pretty outfit. I covered my mouth and went to go pick her up and she went straight for my hair. I had it curled and tried my best to look pretty. We headed for the awards show and I let Norman pose on the red carpet as me and Mercy stood off to the side. Mercy was asleep with her head on my shoulder. Norman pulled me over and I tried to pose while holding Mercy. We hurried inside and we sat down. We enjoyed the show and then Norman went up and presented and I couldn't be happier. I took a picture of him up on that stage and couldn't stop smiling. He was telling a story about the ride up here from Georgia. 'I'm rambling but um I want to thank my lovely girlfriend for showing me around your great city today. Plus for doing all that she does for our beautiful baby girl.' He read off the winner and I sat there and tried to not cry. Pretty soon he came back and sat down next to me and I just kissed him. I remembered I had his jacket on since I didn't want my boobs to be on the internet tomorrow. I sat there and watched the rest of the awards and couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and sleep. Of course Mercy sleeping through the whole awards show she didn't want to sleep that night. I tried my best to sleep, once I got Mercy to sleep I curled up next to Norman. All I could think about was maybe I was pregnant again. I woke up that morning and didn't get sick. I thought maybe it was a bug going around. A day or so later, we packed up and wanted 1 last good view around the city.

A couple days later my friend and her husband came to visit all the way from California. I was super excited for both of them to meet Mercy. I started felt really weird about the time the walked through the door. I was worried that I might be pregnant again for real this time, but I didn't want to have to go out and buy another pregnancy test. I looked for the last couple ones I bought when I thought I was pregnant stuffed under the counter. I took the first one and it came out with the result of POSITIVE. I burst into tears. I just sat in the bathroom floor crying. 'How...' was the first question to come to my mind. Norman had Mercy in his hands and he came running into the bathroom and saw me on the floor 'What happened?' I saw his eyes glance to the test in my hand. I handed it to him and I saw his face change. He sat down next to me and said 'I.. We're...' I just looked at him and said 'I'm sorry. I..' He pulled me into a hug and said 'I'm happy. Our lil family is growing. It might just be a little quickly but we're starting our own lil family. Believe me I'm happy.' That comment made me feel a little better but not much. 'What the fuck is everybody going to think? How is Mercy going to take this? Mingus?' - 'Everybody who has a problem with it can go fuck themselves. Even if they are our supposed friends. If they can't be happy for us, then screw them. As for Mercy, she'll have someone else to play with since there's not really a lot of babies around here for her to play with. As for Mingus, I'm sure he'll be fine. He was super excited the first time around. Plus hey we spend as much time with him before we had Mercy as now. I'll be here with you.' He got up and helped me out of the floor. I tried my best to calm down and held a knock on the door. I went to open it and my friend rushed in the door and hugged me and kept asking 'You..certainly look like a mommy. Going for the natural look I see. It's cute on you. Now.. we're that cute lil girl at?' Norman came out of the nursery with Mercy and my friend ran up and started grabbing for her. I sat down on the couch and just sat there watching her interact with Mercy. Her husband asked me a few questions about me and Norman's relationship and he asked Norman a few questions about Walking Dead. I noticed Norman's hand going to my stomach. I was hoping nobody would notice, but my friend said 'Do you guys have something you need to tell us?' I told her how I took the pregnancy test and it came out positive. She acted like she was shocked. 'Maybe we should have bought those minion outfits.' I heard her say to her husband. I sort of smiled. 'You guys can't tell anybody. We don't want people to know. Please!' They both shook their heads and promised not to say a word. We caught up, and I found her her husband has a daughter. They offered to stay with me while Norman went away for work. Plus to help us try to find a bigger place since our family was going and we were running low on rooms. I knew Norman didn't want to leave this apartment. Maybe we could make this place work. I brought up the point of if we needed a bigger place Norman had a house in Georgia. I didn't want to have to pack up all the stuff and move there, honestly I didn't want to even want to pack up and move anywhere after all the packing I had to do from Nashville to here I didn't want to move anywhere else. My friend who was staying with us currently was on a date with a guy she met a few months back at convention. They really hit it off and he asked her to visit him in Florida again. I was happy she was getting back on the dating scene again. She really deserved it, I couldn't wait to call her and tell her the news. Me and Norman wanted to wait a while before we told anybody because of what they might say to us, and that they would possibly sell the story to the news. I've had friends sell me out before and honestly it was hard for me to trust people be it friends of Norman who worked on movie sets all day or just everyday people I met and knew for a good while.

I was looking at stuff online when I came across Norman's name on this TOP SEARCH LIST. I clicked it just to see what news would come up and noticed a bunch about Walking Dead but then came to a link that was taken in Nashville. I had a baggy shirt, on mainly because I still had a belly and didn't want to squeeze into a shirt. I read halfway through the article 'Several sources tell us that Norman and his girlfriend are expecting their 2nd child together. Their daughter is currently 7 months old.' I broke down and cried about how poorly the article was done. Plus the comments calling me 'Gold digger whore' because I was supposedly pregnant so quick. I closed my laptop and picked up Mercy who was asleep on the pillow beside me. 'Mommy loves you no matter what. Even if you are getting a sibling in a few months, mommy still loves you. Nothing is ever going to change that.' Norman walked in and saw me curled up with her crying. 'What's wrong now?' He said as he sat down on the bed. 'The fucking fans and public know about this new baby. That's what's wrong.' He opened the laptop and looked at the webpage. 'There's no truth behind this shit of an article. Look at how poorly its written.' I looked at him and screamed 'You don't get it. It's not your face and name plastered all over with WHORE, GOLD DIGGER, etc. It's mine.' He pulled me into a hug and cupped my cheeks and said 'Listen, they don't know you like I know you. So, what if you're pregnant 7 months later? As long as you love your children I don't think it matters how soon you have them. Plus we were trying weren't we?' I shook my head yes, and he laid me down and kissed Mercy and moved to my stomach. He kissed my stomach and said 'Mommy and Daddy love you more than you'll ever know.' He looked at me and said 'You know you're already sorta showing right?' I bit my lip. I mean I was chubby before Mercy, and I was still having trouble losing the weight from my 1st pregnancy to be thrown into another one. Norman laid down beside me and held me and Mercy and we started to doze off when the bedroom door came open. 'Oh sorry.' I heard a voice say. I looked up and saw my friend slowly close the door. 'Nah. It's fine.' I slowly sat up in the bed and tried to shake off what happened. A couple days down the road I woke up to the news of Norman and Emily supposedly dating. I can't believe how far some people will go just to make a few dollars by selling fake stories to these gossip hungry vultures. Norman's manager had to shut down the rumors and Norman played it off as a joke by posting funny photos and saying 'New Couple Alert'. The comments from some people hit me on an emotional level. Some people were like 'Alright! Yes!' others were like 'It doesn't surprise me since the mother of his daughter is around the same age as Emily so apparently he likes em young. He's just a perverted old guy.' True me and Emily were super close in age about a year or so age difference, and of course when me and Norman met it made me feel gross knowing he's old enough to be my father, and the people who would say 'She has daddy issues.' or 'They say who someone goes out with says a lot about their life... she's 20 something and dating a 40 something... she must have had one fucked up childhood.' I loved Norman no matter what, and nothing would ever change that.

Father's day quickly came up on us and I decided that it would make a cute photo to announce our newest edition. Norman thought it would be a cute idea. I let Mingus hold his sister and me and Norman got on one side and I got on the other and I held the positive pregnancy test and Norman held up the ultrasound and we took the picture and Norman uploaded it 'Best Father's Day ever. I got a HUGE surprise. We can't be more happier! #SecretsOut.' After we finished Mingus snatched the ultrasound out of Norman's hand and just looked at it in amazement. Norman nudged me and smiled. I tussled Mingus' hair and said 'So you happy about your new sister or brother?' and he looked up at me with a huge smile and said 'YES! You make my dad happy and you make me happy so I'm really happy!' I couldn't help but smile. My life was perfect, I couldn't ask for anything more. Everybody placed their bets on what I was going to have, but I didn't care as long as my child was healthy. I secretly wanted a boy, Norman wanted another lil girl. Anyways we were just taking in the fact we were going to be parents this soon.


	16. Questions and Answers

July sprung up on us and Mercy was already 8 months old. I was counting down the days til my daughter would be 1 and then pretty soon an adult. I always heard parents say that the toddler years flew by but the teenager years slowed way down. I was finding this out now. I loved on Mercy like she was the only other person in the world. She was such an easy baby to take care of, I hoped that this new baby would be just like her. She'd play and laugh with me, and then curl up on my chest and fall asleep, though recently she started laying on my belly. Norman was all smiles knowing that we were going to have 2 babies in the house at one time. All I could think about was the problems it would cause. We started getting Mercy to sleep through the night and now that this baby was going to cry and mess up what we worked so hard for. Another was Mercy wanting our attention and the new baby needing something. Then what if Norman had to leave for something and we couldn't tag along and I'd be stuck with 2 kids? My friend and her husband promised that they'd help out with both kids. I didn't like depending on people for help with my own kids, but what was I gonna do?

I sat in the floor with Mercy and played with her. I was looking forward to seeing the kind of woman she was going to grow into. She was starting to try to stand up and walk, she could stand up while holding the table but when she'd start trying to walk she'd fall. I'll never forget the first time she stood up. Me and Norman were sitting on the couch and she pulled on his pants leg until she stood up for the first time. I started crying. My baby was growing up. Me and Norman talked about maybe taking off when my baby shower was done being planned for his house in Georgia. Just a change of scenery and one last get away before we had 2 children in tow with us. We had calls pouring in from friends and family about our newest edition. I think the very first person who found out after we did was Norman's mom. He called her up right after all the chaos settled down. First words out of her mouth were 'Son, you've got 2 little ones with this wonderful woman. You need to show her how much she truly means to you. I know that the M - Word isn't in your vocabulary, but I think it's time for you to settle down. You've been with this girl for a long time, and you've got a beautiful daughter and another baby on the way. I think don't she is going to take this as a sign of anything ill intended. In fact, she'd probably welcome it. It's your life, but after 2 kids I would settle down, plus the way she acts around you and how welcoming she was of Mingus when you introduced them she's a keeper. You said not many women are fond of the idea of you having a son, and she was welcoming of him.' - I pressured Norman to pop the question, but I knew it was one thing that would never happen. I just didn't want him to rush out and get a ring and then something happen and he feel horrible over it. We ate dinner and then I headed off to bed with Mercy. I put her on her pillow and laid down and held her hand until I knew she was asleep. I rubbed my belly and Norman came into the room after he made sure my friend and her husband were settled in for the night. He kissed Mercy on the forehead and got into bed beside me. He put his hand on my belly and asked me 'So what do you think it is this time?' - 'I don't know. I kinda want a boy, ya know to even out the odds. But a girl would be just fine too. What do you think it is?' - 'I think it's another lil girl. Don't get me wrong I want another boy, but I think it's another girl.' He looked over at me with Mercy's fist wrapped up in my hair. 'I can't believe how fast you got pregnant. It just seems...' - 'Seems like what? It's not like we were preventing it, and besides when we went to prevent it it was to late. It's amazing this one is still alive. I went back on birth control after we talked about how we should wait. What happens if... there's something wrong with it because of that? What happens if I lose it? What if...' Norman leaned over and kissed me. 'Hey, try not to think about that okay? Focus on the positives. Like we're adding another member to the family. Mercy will have a best friend for life.' I smiled. 'Come on let's get a little bit of sleep before we have to get up.' Norman said with a smile as we curled up together.

A few weeks later Norman had to leave for Comic Con and I just sat there staring at the bedroom wall. I had everything all planned out on what we were going to do while there, and then I found out about this baby and decided not to go. I didn't want to leave home and something happen, plus we learned when I was pregnant with Mercy that traveling caused most of the complications that came up during my pregnancy. I didn't want to go through that this time, if I could avoid it. I heard the suitcase zip up and turned and saw Norman gathering all of his bags and putting them beside the front door. Mercy crawled over and just pulled on Norman's pants leg looking up at him. He bent down and picked her up and hugged her 'Sorry sweet pea you can't go this time around.' I could see his heart break when those words left his mouth.

Norman was away at Comic Con and we face timed a few times. I let Mercy be the first face he saw and both of their faces lit up when they finally saw each other. He sat there talking to her looking like he was about to cry. Mercy all of a sudden started saying 'Da Da' and he said 'What's wrong Sweet Pea?' and all of a sudden she turned around and said 'Ma Ma.' I just smiled. 'Yep that's your beautiful mommy.' I heard Norman say and then Mercy just looked at Norman and said 'Ba Ba' - 'Tell your mommy you're hungry. Hasn't she been feeding you?' Then she said 'Ba Ba' and hugged my stomach. I looked at Norman and said 'I think she sorta knows about her new sibling.'  
Norman did tons of interviews and the question everybody was wanting to ask kept coming up.

Q: So Norman while most everybody is so interested in what is going to happen with Daryl and Season 6, the news broke recently and you confirmed it that you and your girlfriend have added a new edition to the family. Care to talk about it?

Norman: We were surprised at how quickly it happened. My son is really involved in her life as a bigger brother and we are very pleased that both of my kids get along. We didn't really 'try' per say. We did, but then stopped after my girlfriend wasn't sure she was ready for another one since he wanted to try to get our daughter to a good age. We were face timing the other night and uh our daughter got my attention and then hugged her mommy's belly.

Q: So can we get the details on what you guys know so far? If not that's okay.

Norman: Eh. We wanna keep those between ourselves. All I can really share is my girlfriend's belly is already expanding, and she's already showing so you can certainly tell she's pregnant.

Q: So just riddle us this, is it just 1 or is it twins? Haha. Also what gender do you guys want it to be? Any details on the names?

Norman: *laughs* It's just 1. I'm going for another lil girl, but mommy's going for a boy. Uh... Mingus is wanting a little brother. My mom doesn't care what it is, just another grandkid for her to spoil. Either way we're going to try to be the best parents we can. Mercy isn't even 1 yet and she semi understands what's going on. It's been cute interacting with her and then watching her just interact with her mommy. She's doing this thing now that where she'll fall asleep with her head on her mommy's belly like a pillow.

Q: So everybody wants to know how are you and your girlfriend handling it?

Norman: I'm handling it pretty well. I'm trying to be the best husband and support my girlfriend through this time. My girlfriend was really shocked at first. She cried for hours when she took the pregnancy test and it came back positive. She's handling it great now. She's enjoying being pregnant again. She's having a hard time trying to balance being a mom to an almost 1 year old and being pregnant. She's being a great sport about it.

Q: Okay. Okay. Onto TWD questions. Can you tell us anything about this season?

Norman: Uh. *nervous laugh* I can't really reveal to much. I know I say this a lot, but uh we really out did ourselves, the crew, the cast, everything. It's been really fun. Hopefully it shows when Season 6 starts in October. I'm under a contract to not reveal that much.

Q: So anything you can describe about your character?

Norman: Season 5 left off at a really great event, Rick killing Pete and Daryl, Aaron, and Morgan showing up and seeing the blood bath just after Morgan said that life is precious. Daryl was really lost for words, and maybe that brings up conflict maybe not. Daryl is pretty broken after the Beth death scene, and he's just... you know trying to figure out what to do in this new environment.

Q: Totally in agreement on the 'broken' part after Beth's death. Why do you think Daryl took it so hard? Some fans say it was because he was in love with her. Some say it was because of what he told her before breaking down and crying. What's your opinion on the whole situation?

Norman: I personally think it was because he didn't want anymore blood spilled. The idea that Beth stabbed Dawn and Dawn could have been patched up, and instead she pulled the trigger. I also believe that he felt horrible because he DID tell her she would never see Maggie again, so he felt guilty about that.

Q: It's all over that TWD is getting a spend off titled "Fear The Walking Dead". Your thoughts?

Norman: I like the idea that there's like an alternative show that sorta links with ours. I feel that it shows what happens during the earlier days, while ours shows later down the road, even though it broke out when Rick was in the hospital. I've met the cast and they seem like a great group of kids so I'm happy that they get this chance to sorta join up with us.

A few days later, Norman got home from Comic Con and had bags of presents with him. Mercy ended up pulling everything out of one of the bags to make a little hiding area. Norman took a picture of her and captioned it 'I came home with tons of goodies from Comic Con and my daughter just took everything out to play in the bag.' I got down on the floor and started to play with her and she crawled into my lap and looked up at me and I said 'You've spent a whole weekend with me. Go show your Daddy some love.' Norman just held his arms out and she grabbed a hold of his hands and sorta pulled herself up and stood there holding onto his hands. I wanted to cry. Life was moving so fast.


	17. Skin

It was August by this time my friend and her husband left, the friendship ended up going bad. It seemed all my friendships went bad when I met Norman. August meant Mercy was 9 months old. . I looked at it as she was almost a year and then the years would fly by. I enjoyed her being small and wanted to keep her this size forever, but I knew it wasn't possible. I woke up to Mercy looking into my eyes and she started laughing when I opened my eyes. I looked at Norman fast asleep on his stomach and told Mercy "Why don't you try to wake your daddy up." Mercy crawled over to where her daddy was asleep and noticed his back tattoos. She looked at me with a puzzled look and kept pointing and trying to talk. I started telling her what they were and she sort of tried to get the words out but couldn't. I quickly grabbed her when I notice Norman starting to wake up. She grabbed a hold of his hair and he sat up and just took her and she just looked up at him and laughed. I started showing her all of Norman's other tattoos and he looked at me weird. "She noticed the ones on your back." I said with a smile and he just let her look at all of them and she wiggled all around in his arms to see every one of them. Norman put his hand on my belly and I just smiled. Our kids were going to have so much love between the two of us. All of a sudden my stomach started growling. Norman handed me Mercy and went to go cook breakfast. I got out of the bed to use the bathroom and Mercy followed me and tried to crawl into the bathtub. I picked her up and put her in it and she wanted me to sit with her and I sat down and she wanted to play in the water. I turned on the water for a little bit enough to just fill up the bottom of the tub and Mercy just started splashing around. She turned around to look at me and ended up crawling into my arms and just looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes. She wanted to go back into the water and I put her down. Shortly after Norman walked in and saw her just playing and me being all smiles. He sat down next to me and gave me a kiss. Our daughter just played away until she noticed her daddy started to flick some of the water at her and she wanted him to hold her. He held her for a while and then she walked to play in the water some more. He took a quick picture of her smiling. "Just because we're not zoned for a pool doesn't mean you can't break a few rules to make your own. #EnjoyTheLittleThings" He put his hand on my belly and just looked at me "You ready for another one?" I asked timidly. "Of course. Bring it on. You?" - "If you're ready, then I'm ready. I've been able to play the mommy card for almost a year what's another year to it? Just to work on improving stuff I messed up on the first time." - "Hey, you haven't messed anything up. Our daughter is perfect. You're just being a great first time mommy. You'll be a great first, second, third, four-" I lightly covered his mouth and laughed. "No. Don't you even say it. You're not spending 9 months carrying another human, then going through hours and hours of pain. I think 2 is a great number to stop at. Maybe 3. But no fourth, fifth, or sixth." I cringed at the thought.

Later that day, I was doing light house work per doctors orders and plus since Norman didn't want me to strain myself, like apparently I did in my first pregnancy. I played with Mercy until her nap time, and then I decided to go lay down myself. I was only about a month and 1/2 in, almost 2 months and I was more tired than I was the first time around, I guess because I was trying to parent and my body was pulling double the work. I looked over at Norman sitting on the couch on his phone. "I think I'm gonna go take a nap okay?" He looked over at me and put his phone down on the table "Something wrong?!" - "No, my body is just working over time and I need a break." He looked down at my stomach. "I'm sorry.." I looked at him "For what? For getting me pregnant? I'm pretty sure it was 50/50 this time. After all before we found out I did chew you out for taking the time to put a condom on. Don't sweat it. I'm happy. Mercy seems happy, I didn't know kids her age could wrap their minds around stuff like this. Everybody around us is so positive." I kissed him and pulled on his hand "Come on... momma needs cuddles. Candy Crush can wait. And no I don't mean sex. I just want to try to get a little bit of sleep until she wakes up." I slept for a little while I guess and I heard Mercy laughing. I heard a meow come from the living room and then Mercy laughing and it continued for about 5 minutes until I finally got up and went and saw Mercy and her Norman in the floor playing with a tiny kitten. I smiled and tried to get back to the bedroom to get my phone and snuck back out and snapped a quick picture of the two of them "Woke up from a nap and saw that we had a new family member." I walked out of the hallway and Norman looked at me "Well look who's awake." I smiled and looked at Mercy who had the kitten in her arms loving on it. "Uh.. I found it outside of the apartment. It was half dead. I figured that it would be a great first pet." - "Don't worry. She needs a pet, and she seems to love him already."

Later that night, I was online browsing baby items with Mercy sound asleep next to me. I noticed my phone kept going off with notifications and when I stopped to look at what they were about my stomach dropped. I couldn't even believe the headline "Walking Dead Star's Girlfriend Admits To Trying To Abort Baby By Taking Pills." I broke down and started crying. Norman rushed in with his phone in his hand and just looked at me sitting on the bed crying. "Shit! I didn't want you to see this." was all he could utter. I looked at him and I couldn't say a word. "I... I... would.. NEVER... do.. that..." I choked out. I just looked at my phone and it was spreading. Norman just tried to comfort me as I cried my eyes out. Apparently I fell asleep crying, because I woke up and noticed Norman's arms around me and and Mercy. I tried to move but I felt Mercy's lil fist clench tighter in my hair. I looked down at my growing belly which was already sort of huge. I rubbed it and whispered to myself "I love you with all of my heart. I promise I will never let anything bad happen to you."

The next morning I heard a noise coming from Mercy's room and I walked and saw the door was closed. I heard Norman talking to Mercy and her laughing, so I just walked into the kitchen. I almost jumped when I saw Mingus making himself something to eat. "..Hi" I said with a smile. "Hi." He said back to me as he passed me something to eat. "I didn't know you were going to.. never-mind." - "I'm not but dad said he had something going on this week and he wanted me here to help him." - I looked at him with a puzzled look. I heard another noise coming from behind the door and I walked over and opened the door and Norman quickly tried to close it and stuck his head out. "What are you two doing?" - "Eh nothing. It's fine." I heard Mercy laughing. "Don't you hurt her okay?" - "I promise." I walked into the living room and sat down. "So... uh when do you and my dad find out if it's a girl or a boy?" I heard Mingus ask me. "A few more weeks. What do you hope it is?" I asked him. "Hmm... I want a brother. But I'll take another sister." He said. "Your dad wants another girl. I want a boy.. ya know to even out the odds plus I think you'd like a little brother." I said as I rubbed my belly. I heard Norman call for his son and just sat there looking down at my stomach. I was already huge, mainly because I only lost a few pounds from when I was pregnant the first time around. I saw the door open and Mingus told me his dad wanted to talk to me about something. I slowly got up and walked into the room and I didn't see Norman anywhere but I saw Mercy sitting in the floor playing with some toys. I noticed she had paint all over her and I went to go pick her up and then I saw it. On her pure white onesie "WILL YOU MARRY ME" in paint. I looked at Mercy and just cried. Norman stepped out from behind the door and got down on one knee and pulled out the ring box. I tried to make sure I didn't drop Mercy but I felt like my legs were going to buckle. "Will you..." "Yes!" Norman couldn't even get the question out. He just decided to skip the whole thing and put the ring on my finger. He got up and kissed me and I just smiled at him.

Later that night as we were getting into bed I turned to Norman and said "I have a question to ask you. Okay?" He looked at me puzzled and said "Sure?" I looked down at the ring and Mercy asleep on the bed and back up at him. "This ring is from the heart right? Cause I know you've had a lot of pressure from your mom, and your friends and um... me. I just want you to know that if you really don't want to do this, you don't have to. I seriously, don't feel the need to get married just because we have 2 kids." Norman looked at me and said "I promise you it is from the heart. I haven't felt the same about anybody like you since well... you know. I don't want to ever lose you. When you were laying in that hospital bed after that car accident and when you woke up your first thought was about our daughter. I realized just how much you meant to us. You were one of the first women I got into a relationship with who didn't care I had a kid. I don't want to just marry you for the kids we have, I know that isn't want you want. I just want to marry you because you're beautiful on the inside and that I love you more than you'll ever know." I started crying and he told me to stop. "I can't help it.. I'm just lucky to have a man who treats me like a queen and plus I'm carrying his child and I'm not in control of my emotions." Mercy was asleep on her back and me and Norman decided now would be a perfect time as ever. I got on one side of her and Norman got on the other side and we took a picture together. "Well... this is certainly one of the most cutest proposals ever. #OffTheMarket #Engaged #HappyFamily #LuckyGirl" I curled up and fell right to sleep with my arms around Mercy. Norman took a picture of the both of us. "So... after all this time I finally found my special someone. I had a little help picking out the ring. I'm so thankful for all of the love and support we received."

A week later Norman was scheduled to go to a convention in Chicago. I reluctantly stayed home. I wanted to go but Norman was already late. He kissed me goodbye and Mercy just started screaming and saying "NO" over and over. Norman's eyes filled up with tears and I saw him put his bags down and just hug her. He kept telling her over and over that it was going to be okay. She started reaching for me and I took her and she got the sleeve of my shirt and tried to push it aside. I knew what she wanted. I kissed Norman goodbye and carried Mercy into the bedroom. I let her start nursing and after a little while I told her "Please sweetheart be a little bit more gentle. Mommy is really sore." I finally had to pull her away because I was hurting. I walked into the kitchen and got her a bottle and heated it up. I tried to give it to her but she didn't want it. I finally just broke down and said "You want your daddy to feed you?" Her eyes lit up. I called Norman on the phone and told him about the problem and I let Mercy just listen to her daddy while I gave her a bottle. I tried to get her to eat something and not just drink milk, because I was hurting to the point where I wanted to just curl up and cry. Plus she was almost a year and needed to start eating solid foods. Norman told me he was going to be stuck in Georgia finishing up some last minute stuff and it was going to take about a month or 2 to complete. My heart sank. He was going to miss out on some important things like what gender we're having and other stuff. I thought long and hard on it and I called the doctor and made sure it was okay to travel. I got the "OK" to go and that they were going to fax my records for this pregnancy to one of the local offices in Georgia. I packed up a bunch of Mercy's items and some of my extra clothes and a few odds and ends for Norman and put them in the car. I put Eye in his carrier and found a little bag to put the kitten in and grabbed the diaper bag and found out where the keys were and started the car. I wanted to surprise Norman so I had to refrain from posting or saying anything. I started backing out and my phone started going off. After my quick phone call, I looked at Mercy who was looking at me and I plugged my phone up to charge and put on some cartoons for her. Goodbye New York... We're Georgia bound.


	18. Twins & Ice Cream

It was a long drive, but we made it safely. I put Mercy on the floor and let her crawl around and play for a while I trusted her and I went to go unload the car. I went and got Eye's carrier out and Mercy came outside and said "Kitty! Kitty!" I put the carrier down in the house and looked at my daughter and said "Wait until mommy gets all the stuff out of the car and then you can let him out okay." I went and got all of the suitcases out of the car and brought them in and I looked at the carrier empty. "Shit" I said as I put them down. I heard Mercy laughing and I went and tried to find her and she had both of the cats playing. She was sitting there petting them and loving all over them. I quickly took a picture "So, our daughter is an animal lover. I couldn't find her for a while and I found her playing with her furbuddies." I sat down and waited until Norman arrived back. Norman got through the door surprised. "I didn't know. How? When?" - "We wanted to surprise you. Plus, I didn't want you two to be apart for a minute more than you have to be." He gave me a kiss and started to love on Mercy.  
Later that night I put Mercy in her crib and walked into the bedroom and noticed Norman looking at me. I got into bed and looked at him, and said "First time in weeks she's slept in her room.. You wanna.." Norman looked at me with a look. I got my shirt off and he started to pull off my pajama bottoms it took me a minute to realize this was the first time since in weeks since we've actually seen each other nude. I went and wrapped my arms around Norman's neck and started kissing him. I felt myself grow more wet by the minute. He found my boobs and stopped kissing me and started licking and kissing all over them. My hand found his cock and began massaging it and I heard him moan a little. He let one hand go between my legs and uttered "Gosh girl, you're so wet." - I moaned when I felt him just rub his fingers across my most sensitive spot. "Please... Norm... I need you." - "How badly do you need me?" - I felt him shove 2 fingers into me. I looked right into his eyes. "No.. I need to feel you stretch me out." I felt him remove his fingers and felt the tip of cock at my opening. He slowly entered me. "If you want me to ease up tell me okay? I don't want to hurt you." I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his neck again. I felt him thrust into me and I tried to make him go deeper. He got my hint and helped me move a little bit closer to him. I felt a little pain and sort of started crying. I felt him pull out a little bit and all of a sudden I felt him pull all the way out. I looked at him, with a "What the hell" look and he laid down on the bed and pulled me on top of him. "Norm.. I don't know if I can even do this anymore." I looked down at my belly. "You can try." I saw that devilish smirk. I started to ride him and he put his hands on each side of my belly to try to support me. I ended up almost orgasming and then I had to stop. "What's wrong?" - "I can't do this anymore... it hurts. I mean some women can do it and I'm apparently one of the ones who can't." He shook his head. I pulled him back on top of me and everything worked out perfectly. We finished out what we set out to do, have sex. Me and Norman just laid there and he looked down at my nude belly. "So.. you ready for another one? Really? What if it's a boy?" - I looked at him and said "If I can handle you, I'm pretty sure I can handle a mini you. I just can't wait til the lil kicks start and when Mercy can feel them." - "Me either. She's going to be a great big sister. You're an amazing mommy. You're going to be an amazing wife." I looked at the ring on my finger. "Thanks.." I heard Mercy start crying in the other room. I went to grab something to cover up with and I got up and put it on and went to go see what Mercy wanted. I picked her up and hugged her and felt that her diaper was wet and I went to go change her. She fell back asleep and I put her back in her crib and went back to the bedroom. I got into the bed and curled up with Norman and he went and put his hand on my belly. "Look, please don't put your hand any lower okay? I really don't feel like Round 2 happening tonight." I woke up the next morning, and noticed an empty spot in the bed and looked around and sat up and went to go get dressed. I didn't hear anything, and I walked into the living room and sat Norman with a small jar of baby food trying to feed Mercy and he was doing great. I walked into the room and she stopped eating and started saying "Mommy!" and almost fell off the couch. I quickly walked over and grabbed her and she just latched her arms around my neck and just acted so sweet and cute. I often wondered how she was going to take it when her little brother or sister would be needing my attention. I had no idea how I was going to juggle two kids. Mercy was all over. She wanted down on the floor and I put her on the floor, and she crawled over and started playing with all of her toys. We ate dinner that night and fell asleep because we had a very big day planned the every next day.

I had another doctors appointment and I was super eager to see my future child. I signed in and sat down with Mercy asleep in my arms. I heard the nurse call my name and I walked back to the room and laid on the table. Shortly afterwards the doctor came in to do my ultrasound and I got butterflies in my stomach. I saw the doctor's facial expression change and I heard Norman ask "Is.. there something wrong?" The doctor looked at me and asked "How many months along are you?" I said "I'm about 3 months along. I thought that was in the paper work my regular doctor faxed you? Why is there something wrong?" The doctor looked at me and then grabbed the clipboard with all sorts of information on it "You're pregnant with 1 baby correct?" I shook my head. The doctor looked back at the screen and I saw Norman get up and ask what was going on and the doctor looked at him and then at me. "So your daughter is 10 months old right?" I just stared at him blankly. "Doctor please tell us what is going on." Norman said in sort of an angry and worried tone. The doctor tried to compose himself and asked me questions like was this baby planned and did I know about the dangers of getting pregnant this quickly. "Miss, I need to inform you of something." My face dropped and I started crying and said "I miscarried didn't I?" The doctor shook his head no. Norman grabbed my hand and the doctor started doing the ultrasound again and I saw it. "I don't know how to explain this. It's rare. But it does happen. The reason you don't look 3 months and you look farther along, is because you're carrying twins." I shook my head and said "I don't understand I've had 2 appointments and they only saw 1 baby. How?" - "Well sometimes one hides behind the other." I burst into tears. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. We finished up the appointment and the doctor said everything checked out and gave us photos. I walked to the car in total silence. Norman buckled Mercy into her car seat, she was awake. We drove to the house and I carried her into the house and she put her hands on my belly and just smiled. I looked at the ultrasound photos and I showed them to Mercy and said "Look sweetie these are your new siblings." She looked at the picture, and grabbed it out of my hand.  
Norman sat down next to me and started rubbing my belly and I got a smile on my face. I looked at him and said "So what did your mom say?" - "Actually I didn't call her just yet. Should I?" - "Of course." I smiled. Norman grabbed his phone and started calling and I heard him say "Hello mom? I have some news for you?" I could hear that she was sort of worried "What is it? Are all of my grandchildren okay? What about my future one? Healthy? I think you said that today was the day you were going for a check up." I saw Norman sort of smile as he said "Mom I have some news that you should hear." - "Son? Is there something you need to tell me?" - "Mom, you don't have a future grandchild..." I heard the voice on the other end of the phone break. "Oh son I'm so sorry! Is there anything I can do for you?" - "No Mom listen we went to the doctor and believe it or not... it's twins." I heard the voice on the other end stutter "Twins?!" - Norman got all happy and said "Yes Mom! Twins. We should find out what genders next month. Are you excited?" - "OF COURSE I'M EXCITED. How are you handling the news? Am I the first person to know?" - "Yes, you're the first person we decided to call. We're handling it as well as we can I guess. We were preparing for 1 but now we have to switch everything around." - "Hows mom doing?" Norman looked over at me as I had one hand on his, which was still on my belly. "She's handling it rough, but she's accepted it. Do you want to talk to her?" - "She's just worried. She's so used to caring for 1 child now, but now she has 2 on the way and she's still young, she's going to handle it rough. Just take your time with her. I know I raised you right, and I know you're not going to hurt her." - Norman looked down at my hand and it popped into his head. "Oh I have something else to tell you." - "More surprises?" - "Well, we're *coughs* engaged." - "What?! Son you're just full of surprises. I'm so happy for you both." - "Thanks mom." I saw Norman sort of cry. "I just wish dad was here. To be experiencing all of this stuff with us." - "I know you do son, but I promise you he's proud of the man that you grew up to be." Norman went on with his phone call and ultimately hung up the phone. Norman took a picture of one of the ultrasound photos and texted it to Mingus and said "Meet your brand new siblings!" I saw Norman put his phone down and then it started to vibrate on the table. He picked up the phone and I heard on the other side of the phone "OH MY GOSH DAD ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" I started laughing. "Yes, I'm sure. We find out what you're getting next month." - "Dad? Can I be part of it this time again? Please?" Norman let go of my hand and said "Well... I'm stuck in Georgia until the end of next month, but I do have to fly back for the premiere and if you want you can attend with me? Then you could come here? I mean if it's okay with your mom."

That night I was getting into bed and I felt a pain in my stomach. I figured it was just my body adjusting to the way I was moving. I looked down at my belly and just smiled. Norman came in the room crawling on all fours and Mercy was laughing and screaming. She stopped and Norman grabbed her up and she just laughed. I reached my arms out. He put her in my arms and I just started loving all over her. I looked at her and put her little hands on my belly. Norman grabbed his phone and took a picture "My 2 beautiful girls. My daughter is excited to find out if she's getting a little brother or a little sister. This was just to precious to not share." Me and Norman sort of felt bad that we were lying, but hey we needed a few secrets. We decided to not tell Sean anything until we met him at the end of the next month. I wanted to see the look on his face. I just watched Mercy put her hands all over my belly and I was so ready for the kicks. I wanted to see her smile and laugh and just get so happy. I told Norman that just because I was expecting 2 babies instead of 1 that I wanted him to not cancel unless I really needed him. I figured last year was a big let down for the fans, and I got so many messages saying rude things about how I was taking Norman away from the fans, and everything else. I finally got Mercy into bed and curled up next to her and just fell asleep. I woke up halfway through the night and Norman was on his phone. I looked over and saw Mercy laying on her stomach on his chest. I sort of sat up, and looked over at him. "Wha- what are you doing?" He looked at me and showed me his phone. "Urgh seriously Norman? You can't wait until tomorrow to play that stupid game?!"  
I got up the following morning and Mercy wanted to play so I put her on the floor and she found her kitten and started playing with it. All of a sudden I heard her start crying so I got up and checked on her and she had a little scratch on her arm and I picked her up and started loving on her. "Shh. You're okay. He didn't know any better, he's like you doesn't understand everything just yet." She latched onto my hair and calmed down. I put her back on the floor and didn't hear anything from her for a while. I went to go see where she was and I found her asleep in the floor. I decided to put her in the bed and try to sleep a little bit more. I put her on Norman's chest and just smiled. The fact that we were a family was surreal. This man that tons of women want to have sex with is in my bed every night, helps me with our children, etc. I just couldn't believe how lucky I was. I took a quick picture of the two of them asleep. "My handsome husband (to be) is one of the best fathers I've ever seen. So lucky to have him in my life. I can't wait to start our life together." I picked up one of the recent ultrasound photos and just looked at it and then at my stomach. "No wonder mommy got big so suddenly she's got two bundles of love. We can't wait to meet you both." I crawled into bed and fell asleep curled up next to Norman. I must have slept for while because I woke up to Norman bringing in some food. I blushed. Mercy was all over the bed trying to play with me. I sat there next to Norman eating and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" - "I just never pictured my life like this. I'm just happy. Plus you're the sweetest man I've ever met." Mercy crawled up in my arms and just loved on me. I put my food down and just looked in her eyes. "Mommy." - "Yes sweetie." - "Baby?" She looked at me with a funny look. "Yep, mommy is having more babies." I saw her eyes just light up and she started sorta jumping around. I put her lil hand on my stomach and said "The babies are right here." She just hugged my stomach. I looked over at Norman with a smile. "I've never seen a prouder older sibling." He said looking at me.

I finished up my dinner and went to get ready for bed. "Mercy you want to sleep in your room or here?" - "Here!" - "Okay sweetie, but we need to get you into your pajamas come on." I picked her up. "You wanna walk to your room or me to carry you?" She got off the bed and grabbed my hand and sorta started walking and fell and started crying. I picked her up and carried her into her room and just looked around. I went and started getting her some pajamas out, and getting her dressed. I got her dressed and carried her into our bedroom and put her on the bed. Norman looked at me standing up and came over and just rubbed my belly. He helped me into bed and lifted up my shirt and just kissed my stomach. I grabbed his hands and put them on one spot. "They aren't kicking yet, but I can already feel them moving and they are right here." He smiled at me and asked Mercy "You wanna hold your siblings?" Mercy came over and put both of her hands on the spot where Norman's hands were. Norman quickly grabbed his phone and took a photo of the 3 of us with out hands on my stomach. "Mommy is already feeling 'Baby #2' move around. So looks like we're in for a long night." Mercy just made me smile. She was so eager for new siblings, I hoped this reaction would be a foreshadowing of events. I laid down and Mercy just curled up next to me. I kissed her little nose and said "I can't believe you're almost 1." I woke up at different points in the night and went back to sleep. I went to the bathroom and noticed a tiny amount of blood. I quietly went up to Norman's side of the bed and tapped him on the shoulder. He woke up and asked me what was going on. I told him about the blood and he asked me if I was okay or if I needed something. I told him I was really worried since spotting was a sign of miscarriage. He got up and picked Mercy up and put her in the car seat and grabbed the diaper bag and we went to the hospital. We got to the hospital and they ran all sorts of tests and did a full exam. They told me that it was most likely stress. They asked me what I was doing during the day, and told me that I needed to be put on bed rest immediately along with no sex. I looked at Norman. They gave me a discharge slip and sent me on my way. We got home and I just looked down at my stomach and up at Norman. "Maybe I'm not meant to have kids... every pregnancy so far had ended up the same way." - "Don't say that. They said that both babies are healthy. You just need to relax." - "And no sex." I looked at him with a look. "Yeah and that too.." - "You know they said twins don't normally wait til their due date to come into this world.. what if I go into labor early and you're not here?" - "Where else would I be?" - "Well, you do have that cruise happening my birthday weekend. It sucks you won't be here for it... but what if I go into labor? Remember what happened last time? I had faux contractions and then the real thing." - "If you want I can.." - "You're not going to cancel. I can't go with you because they most likely won't be able to immune me to the illnesses, plus Mercy shouldn't have to go through that." - "I can see if I can arrange someone to stay with you. Right now you have 2 or 3 choices." - "I am not having your son take care of me. Sean did 90% of it last year and I don't think his wife was happy him spending time with his best friend's girlfriend, even if I was pregnant. Who is the other choice?" - "My mom. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Plus you wouldn't really be intruding on someone else, I know she'd really be open to it.. since she doesn't get to see Mercy all that much. Plus I'm sure she'd like to be able to feel both of her soon to be grandchildren before they come out crying. Think about it. I don't want you left alone." - "That would be okay. But I don't want to impose, so if she sounds unsure don't pressure her okay? I don't want special treatment."

Norman called his mom and she said that it would be fine if me and Mercy stay for a little bit. Norman handed the phone to Mercy and Norman's mom asked her "You want to come stay at Grandma's house for a while?" Mercy looked at me and said "YES!" I looked at her get all happy and she handed the phone to her daddy. "Thanks mom. This means so much to me." I saw Norman put the phone down. "She's going to let you guys stay with her for a week. If you go into labor she said she'd hold your hand." I looked down at my belly and said "You hear that lil cuties... your daddy is leaving for a week so please cook a little bit longer." The three of us curled up and tried to recover some of our sleeping time. I woke up the next morning and Norman was in the living room. He had Mercy playing with something and got up to give me a hug. He stepped back and a looked at me. He put his hand on my forehead and looked into my eyes and said "Are you feeling okay?" I looked down at Mercy in the floor. "I'm not feeling to hot, but I'm going to live." - "If you want to get some more sleep you can, I've got everything covered. She's coloring and I can keep her busy." He put his hands on my belly. "How are these two doing?" I looked down at his hands, and said "They are fantastic. Moving around a bunch." I smiled. I kissed him and went over to see Mercy and she almost jumped into my arms. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" - "Hello sweetie." I said as a hugged her. I was sitting there looking at her coloring on a piece of paper. Norman sat down next to me and I just put my head on his shoulder. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up in bed. I got up and saw Norman trying to get Mercy to eat some food. I heard her start to get fussy, and I went and tried to help him. "Come on sweetie, you need some noms." She started to eat a little bit. I let her eat a few bites and then got her ready for bed. I put her in her crib and she started screaming and crying and being fussy as ever. I brought her into the bedroom and let her watch cartoons. Norman sat there and watched as she sort of fell asleep in my arms. I turned off the TV and went to bed, and I got woken up by her crying "MOMMA! DADA!" I sat up and looked at her "What's wrong?" - "Scary!" - "You have a bad dream?" and she shook her head. I held her and told her "Mommy and Daddy aren't ever going to let anything bad happen to you." I let her watch cartoons until Norman woke up and saw me sitting up holding her. He looked at his phone and saw it was about 4:00 in the morning. "What are you doing?" - "She had a bad dream. She's still awake. Sorta." He reached out his arms and offered to take her so I could get some sleep. I looked down at her and saw her look up at me. I went to go put her in her daddy's arms. She looked up at him and just said "Scary". He kissed the top of her head and said "Daddy and Mommy won't ever let anything bad happen." I laid down and she reached out her little hand and I grabbed it and fell asleep holding her hand.

I woke up the next morning and Mercy had her fist twisted in my hair. I looked and didn't see Norman in the bed, I picked my daughter up and carried her and tried to find her daddy, but didn't see him anywhere. I noticed a note on the counter that said "Hey you two looked so cute I didn't want to wake you up, but I noticed we were running low on certain things and figured you'd probably be craving them later." I smiled and went back to the bedroom and laid back down. As soon as I got into bed I felt something funny. I put my hand on my stomach and felt it again, this time a little harder. My eyes went wide. I heard the door open and put Mercy between two pillows and tried to get to Norman as fast as I could. I hugged him and he looked at me "You seem cheerful this morning." - "Guess what?! Guess what?!" - "What?" I grabbed both of his hands and put them on my stomach. He smiled at me and then kissed me. I just smiled like an idiot. "You're super happy. It's cute." I heard him say. "Oh.. I have bad news." - I looked up at him and whispered "You're having to leave again aren't you?" He shook his head. "Only for a few days, I've got some promoting to do for this new movie. I have to go all the way back to Canada again." - I just looked at him "I understand, but Mercy isn't going to take this well. You know how she freaked out last time. I just wish you could sorta slip out when she wasn't looking, but that wouldn't be fair." Norman had to leave a few days later, and Mercy gave him a hug and kept saying "No. Don't go daddy! Pwease." She had her arms latched around his neck. I went and got her a bottle out of the fridge was something I started doing if she was fussy at bedtime, because it would put her to sleep. I warmed it up and handed it to Norman and he started to feed her. She started to close her eyes and pretty soon she was asleep. I picked her up, and Norman hugged me and kissed me and bent down and kissed my stomach. "How are these two today?" - "Fine. Kicking. At-least they are healthy." He smiled at me "I'm going to hurry back as soon as I can. If anything goes wrong, call me and I'll be on the first flight home. Okay? Anything." - "I'll be sure to call you. Pretty sure we'll be on the phone the whole time you're gone cause as soon as she wakes up she's going to cry." He looked down at Mercy in my arms and kissed her again and then kissed my forehead. "I love you. Be careful." - "You too." Norman left and I started to cry. I just held Mercy and hugged her. A few hours later she woke up and wanted to go outside and play. I got her dressed and put her shoes on and went out and let her play for a little while. She came up and put her hands on my belly and kept pointing and saying "Play?" - "You want your little brother or sister to play with you?" and she shook her head. "They can't right now, but the next time we come out here you can play with them." She grabbed my hand and I got up and played with her. We played until she wanted to go inside and do something else. I posted some photos of Mercy outside so Norman could see them. "Our precious little girl is adventuring out into the world. Hard to believe in a few months she's going to be 1 year old." I went to go feed her and got her ready for bed. "Daddy?" she said when I put her in the bed beside me. "Daddy had to go to work. He'll be back don't worry." I saw her eyes swell up and she started crying. I decided to check my phone and saw that Norman saw my photos and commented and liked all over them. I went and decided to try to Facetime with him and I handed the phone to Mercy and when she saw her daddy. She got all happy. They talked and talked until she got sleepy. I took the phone and talked to him a while until we both decided to sleep. Days went on and on until the final day, and then Norman was on his way home.

I woke up on the final day of him being gone and the phone rang and I picked up the phone and Norman just wanted to tell me he was on his way home. Mercy tried to get the phone from me, and I handed it to her and she said "Hi Daddy!" and he started telling her that he was on his way home. All of a sudden she just blurted out. "Baby" I just looked at her and tried to hide the smile and gittyness. I took the phone from her and said "She's been telling me I'm having another baby." I hung up the phone and I put my camera on and filmed her "Mercy you have some news don't you?" She shook her head. "Well... you want to say what it is?" - "New Baby! Baby!" - "Are you excited?" - "YES!" - "Do you want a brother or a sister?" - "Sister!" - I uploaded the video to Instagram "I guess the news is out... Me and Norman are having another baby and we have a request for a girl. #BigSister #Expecting" I was playing with Mercy and she was laughing and smiling. All of a sudden we heard the door open and bags hit the floor. "DADDY!" I heard Mercy yell as she ran over. He scooped her off the floor and loved on her. I took a picture of him crying when he picked her up. "This is getting cuter and cuter. Whenever she hears that door open after he's been gone, she runs to it. Yes, he's crying. You'd be crying to if you were away from your kids for a moment. #DaddyandDaughter #Family #RealMenCry" Mercy wanted to go outside so we took her outside and just watched her play. "So... how was she?" - "Eh. Same. She cried when she found out you were gone. She likes it outside, she wanted to stay outside all day. Of course she's amazed whenever she hugs me and feels the kicks and such. I think she's going to be okay with it." - "How did you handle it?" I felt him put his hand on my stomach. "I cried. It's not getting easier. I mean it sort of was, but when I found out I was pregnant again, I came crashing back down. It's better than when I was pregnant with her I guess." - "How so?" - "Because atleast now I have something to hold onto when I sleep, well when I was pregnant with her it was either a pillow or I almost squeezed Eye to death." I saw him smile. Norman went over and picked up our daughter up and said "Okay sweetie we need to go inside. Its getting dark." I saw her little face just drop. "Don't worry you can come back outside tomorrow" We ate dinner and afterwards I saw Norman picked up Mercy and cleaned her up and got her ready for bed. He brought her into our bedroom.

I woke up the next morning and started doing laundry and I was folding clothes and for some reason I started crying. Norman came running in "What happened?!" - "Nothing." - "Why are you crying?" - I handed him a shirt I was folding. "What's wrong with this?" - "Look at the tag..." He read the tag and looked at me. "I'm fat." He looked at me and said "You're not fat, you're pregnant." - "Either way I'm fat. Why the fuck do you love me I'm not skinny. I'm huge." - "I love you for you, you were full figured when I met you and fell in love you, size isn't what I care about. Either way, you're pregnant. You have two wonderful babies growing inside of you." I just sat there and cried as I folded the clothes. After a while Norman came in and I was still crying. "You've been crying for a good hour." I just looked at him and said "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to work through all these issues." - "Look, I know you don't think you're good enough. But trust me, if I didn't love you I would have never got into a relationship with you. If I remember correctly, I bought you coffee that day and we talked, and you came pretty close to losing that crap of a job you had. I couldn't get you out of my head after that. We met that whole week I was in Nashville, and I do believe I stayed an extra week just to get to know you better. I perused you, not the other way around. Even your family told you I wasn't good enough for you that it wouldn't last. But look at us, we're engaged and have 3 beautiful children. I love you more than you'll ever know." Just than I heard Mercy start to cry. I got up and went to go get her out of her crib and she hugged me. The hugs, were what gave me life every single day. Mercy was why I was here, I never pictured myself as a mom but the moment I got pregnant I made my life about her. My children were my life, and I would do anything for them. I got through the day and that night I watched Norman put Mercy to sleep in her crib. I walked back into our room and changed into a skimpy night gown and crawled into bed. I could feel myself growing wetter by the second. I couldn't wait for my wonderfully talented basically husband to return as I felt a hand slip underneath and I started just enjoying the moment. "Woah!" I heard as I looked at the door way. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I know the doctor said not to.. but I need it tonight. Please." He looked at me and said "Baby.. what if something" I went back to doing what I was doing before. Before I knew it Norman moved my hand away and replaced it with something else. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his mouth was all over my chest and neck. He was thrusting into me at a pretty calm speed, but for whatever reason he sped up and I let out "Fuck" I put my face into the crook of his neck and just listened to his animalistic grunts. All of a sudden I felt my release and I felt his. "Well, atleast I don't have to worry about getting pregnant." I laughed. Norman just sat there and looked at me "Atleast this time around you're not crying every time we do get to have sex." - "Trying to enjoy it. After these two get here we can kiss stuff like this behind." - "I don't want to sound a horrible dad, but we've got to get her to sleep in her room once in a while.. mommy and daddy need some alone time every so often." - "Yeah..." I sat up and kissed him. He placed both hands on the sides of my growing belly and felt the tiny kicks. "Gosh I can't believe we've created two lives this time around... and three so far. I love you." - "I love you too." I smiled.

I woke up to the sound of crying "Momma! Dada!" I went to go get up and run out of the bedroom and I remembered what happened lastnight. I quickly grabbed the nightgown I had on that covered, or barely covered my personal areas, that I only wanted Norman to see. I went in and saw that Mercy's stuffed animal she sleeps with when she sleeps by herself was in the floor. "You want this?" I picked it up and gave it back to her and she curled back up and went to sleep. I kissed her and went back into the bedroom. I curled back up next to Norman and I was almost asleep when I felt his hand creep underneath my gown. My eyes shot open. "Seriously?" - "What don't tell me you don't wanna do anything. We have a little bit of time come on I can already tell you're ready.. hell the way you slept I felt your wetness on my leg all night. I had to keep talking myself down." I blushed. We had sex for the 2nd time and I felt fantastic. I went to go shower and get dressed. I looked down at my belly in the mirror I had my pajama bottoms on and a tank top I noticed Norman was already dressed and I had him come over and do the infamous "Guy stands behind Pregnant girl and they take a picture together." Norman took one too and captioned it "My beautiful wife with my future child." I heard Mercy start crying again and went in and picked her up and changed her and got her dressed. "Outside! Outside!" I heard her shout as she held my hand walking out of the room. I opened the door and she ran outside. I looked at Norman acting suspicious and I went and walked to the door and asked "Is something wrong?" - "No. Why would you think that?" Just because of the way you're acting. I saw him pull a box out from behind his back. "Um I bought you this when I was gone. It was a reasonable price since you're always worrying about that." - "Well we have 3 kids now, so we need to budget not that we weren't doing that before." I went and opened the present outside because I needed to watch and make sure Mercy wasn't running off. I looked at it and pulled it out of the box. It was a cute summers dress, in white. "What?!" - "I knew you wanted a cute one that highlighted your belly, and I saw this." I hugged him and started to cry. I noticed something else underneath the dress, and noticed some sexy lingerie. "Uh.. I also got these." He pulled out a small bag with Mercy's name on it. "Mercy come here sweetie" I saw her walk over "Daddy got you some presents." I saw her sit down between us. She pulled out a few shirts that were super cute ones. Plus some stuffed animals. She hugged him and wanted him to go play with her. I just sat there and watched them play and saw the smile never leave Norman's face. I put a hand on my stomach and just let the babies kick. Pretty soon it was dinner time and Mercy came up to me and put both hands on my belly smiling. I carried her inside and cleaned her up and fixed her some baby food. Me and Norman ate together and both helped feed our daughter. We finished up, and got ready for bed. I got into bed trying to calm Mercy down who was jumping on the bed and doing normal kid things. I got her to calm down and she got in between me and her daddy. We fell asleep and about 3 in the morning I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I walked into the kitchen and remembered I wanted to make breast milk ice cream. I checked on how much milk Mercy had left and I measured it up and pulled up the recipe on my phone and went to work. I knew I had to be quiet not to wake anybody up. I heard what sounded like Norman get up and I just froze. I looked and saw Eye running out of the bedroom. "Shhh." I said as I started to pet him on the head. "Hungry?" I put some food in his bowl. I managed to make everything and put it in the freezer. I sat down on the couch and Eye jumped up in my lap. "You ready for 2 more humans to pull on your tail and ears?" He started meowing at me. I must have fallen asleep on the couch because I woke up to Mercy's pulling on my hair and saying "Mommy" over and over. The day went off without a single thing going wrong. Norman pulled something out of the freezer and I didn't notice what it was and I came back from the bathroom to him and Mercy eating whatever he pulled out of the fridge. "What cha eating?" - "Ice cream" I got nervous. "This is fantastic." - "What kind is it?" - "I don't really know it was just in a container in the freezer." I walked in and looked at noticed some of the ice cream was gone. "Umm.. Norman is this what you two are eating?" I held the container out "Yeah, that's it. Why? Saving it for something special." - "No. Um actually I made it." - "You made this? What are you magic? You should be a chef. This is fantastic. What did you put in it?" - "Um all the normal stuff you put in home made ice cream and um *coughs* breast milk. Norman's eyes went wide. "Seriously?" - I shook my head. "No wonder it tastes so good it came from you." I blushed. I got ready for bed and just laid there feeling the tiny kicks and just cried. I wasn't really ready to be a mother when I got pregnant with Mercy, but I jumped into it and loved every moment, even if this was way to soon to have more kids I was ready. With Norman by my side I knew I could accomplish anything.


	19. Premieres & Costumes

October was here, and it actually made my heart ache. Next month my little girl was 1 year old. Norman had to go back to New York for the season 6 premiere and was begging me to go with him. "Come on... it's only for a few days and then we get to come all the way back here." - "Norm- what are we going to do with Mercy while we're out having fun? I'm not taking her and the media say (They took their almost 1 year old to see Walking Dead. Look at the horrible parents.) Even tho, people do let young kids watch the series, and I'll admit we do tend to let her fall asleep during." - "I want to show you off though, I want to show our future children off. Think about it?" I sighed "Okay.." Pretty soon we were going to bed and Mercy fell asleep so I just put her in her crib. I got into bed and I went and tried to get comfortable, and after a few minutes I started to fall asleep. Norman wrapped his arms around me and started kissing on my neck. "Norman please. I just want to sleep." Norman kept kissing on my neck and then put one hand on my stomach. "Come on I know you want to." I rolled over and looked at him. I started to try to get my pajama bottoms off, and Norman helped me. Norman went to get on top of me, but stopped. All of a sudden I felt his tongue enter me. "Oh yes! YES! YES!" I started moaning. I grabbed Norman's hair and held his head down so he couldn't pick his head up. "Shit." I muttered when I felt my release. Norman and I tried something different in the way of sex positions. I guess those pregnancy books that he ended up buying me paid off. Afterwards I curled up next to him, I looked up at him "I think I've decided to come with you after all." He just smiled at me. I fell asleep a little after that. I woke up to Mercy screaming. "Sweetie come on, if you want to scream lets go outside. Your mommy is trying to sleep." I rolled over and got up or attempted. I called Norman's name and he came in and helped me get up. "Yeah I'm not used to this. Even the second time around." I quickly grabbed some clothes and snuck away before Mercy really noticed. I went and took a bath and must have drifted off because I was woken up by beating on the door. "Mommy!" I quickly grabbed a towel and covered up "What sweetie?" I looked down at Mercy and she had something in her hand "Present" I looked down at her with a little flower in her hand. "Awe that's cute thank you sweet heart." Norman walked into the room and saw me talking to Mercy and picked her up and let me get dressed.

I ended up driving all the way back to New York with Norman. We got back to the apartment and I sat down on the couch and rubbed my stomach. "Norman we can't keep doing this. I just need to stay in a spot for a while." - "I know. If you didn't want to come with me you really didn't have to. I don't want you to feel pressure because of what I want." Norman had an interview before the premiere.

Jimmy: So, we have these things on this show called "Kid Inventors".

Norman: *laughs* I would consider myself a kid inventor, I mean I do have a son and a daughter and another baby on the way. Each invention was fun creating.

Jimmy: So, we all know you have a son and daughter and another baby on the way. Congratulations. Do you know what gender yet?

Norman: Thank you. Not yet. We're supposed to be finding out towards the end of this month.

Jimmy: That's exciting. So this is baby #3 for you and baby #2 for your *looks at note cards* fiance. Congratulations on the engagement also.

Norman: Thank you again. I was thinking about it before, and me and my future wife always said that no matter how many children you have together that it wasn't a reason for marriage. I think what made me want to get married to her was *shifts around in his seat* a few months back she was in a serious accident, in which she had broken bones and could have died. She passed out on the way to the hospital and didn't wake up for 2 or 3 hours after everything happened. First words out of her mouth when she woke up was for our daughter. Plus she's very supportive of my son and mine's relationship. I don't know why someone her age would say "Yes" to someone my age locking them into a contract. I had the cutest idea to paint my daughter's onesie "Will You Marry Me?" on it. She didn't really even notice it at first. *shows photo and audience goes aw* But I'm glad that she chose me.

Jimmy: So let's talk about your show, The Walking Dead, you play the crossbow toting Daryl Dixon. Season 6 starts this weekend, and you have a premiere on Friday as part of NYCC. Any details you can give us?

Norman: Eh.. This season focuses on the group surviving and trying to recapture their humanity in a world gone mad. They are going to be living with a whole other group, so it's going to show how they deal with that.

Jimmy: So, I know you get this question a lot but is there love on the horizon for Daryl? I mean people are shipping him with almost every character he comes into contact with.

Norman: Yeah Daryl gets shipped with everybody from Rick, to Carol, to Beth, to whoever else people see him interact with. I mean no matter what he does and who he talks to it seems someone thinks of a reason he should be with the person no matter what gender they are. As for a relationship, we'll have to see. I mean he's a lone wolf, so maybe he'll stay that way and maybe not.

We decided that since Sean's birthday was coming up and since we found out the news last month, we would announce it in a special way. We ended up picking out a cute card and writing on one side "Happy Birthday! We are so excited to meet you already, we're due towards the middle of March of next year. Mommy and Daddy don't know what we are yet, but it doesn't matter. We are asking you if you would be our 'God Father' like you are to our sister. Included are some of the very first photos of us. Mommy and Daddy didn't know about 1 of us until last month, so this is all sinking in for them to. It's okay to say no." We also put underneath the card *Please don't post these on Instagram or online. We kinda don't want the exposure.

We got to the premiere and I got out and made sure I looked okay. "Ready?" Norman asked me. "As I'll ever be.." I said in a low tone. He grabbed both sides of my face and kissed me hard. "You're going to get through this." We asked Mingus if he wanted to do the whole photoshoot thing that goes along with big events. He turned down the offer by just saying "Tonight is your night. I'll just stand by and baby sit." I handed him his sister who was asleep. Me and Norman did the whole red carpet thing and posed for photos and he posed for photos with his hand on my belly. We made it inside and I was so over whelmed we got inside and I held onto Norman's arm throughout the whole thing. Until Norman had to go to the Q&A event. I sat down next to Mingus who was still holding his sister who was waking up. I watched as she opened her eyes and yawned. She started to move and look around. "Momma! Da-Da!" She started to scream so I took her and loved on her "Shhh. We're only here for a while and then we can go home." All of a sudden I heard the roar of an engine and saw Norman on "Daryl's Bike" and the crowd went crazy. Mercy looked up at the stage and saw her daddy and started trying to get out of my arms. "No. Da-Da!" She started to get fussy. I went up to the front of the stage and let Norman hold her for a short bit until he gave her back to me and gave her a kiss. I carried her back to her seat and she was happy and she just sat down. We just listened to the Q&A panel, until Norman stopped it and said it was Mingus' birthday. "I would like to wish my son a happy birthday." Mingus got all embarrassed as he stood up. "I see you're baby sitting tonight. My son and my beautiful fiance and our lovely daughter. Thanks so much for the support tonight guys." Norman calmed down and the Q&A went off without any problems. Mercy fell asleep before the premiere took place, and I just held her until it was over. Afterwards we stayed a little while and interacted with everybody, and decided to go home. When we got home me and Norman were the only two people awake in the house, so I walked him to the bedroom, and asked him for help with my dress. He slid it off, and went back to kissing me. "Mmmm" I moaned as he trailed kisses down my neck and went to sucking on my nipples and I heard him mutter "Yummy" I was in heaven with this man. I couldn't handle it anymore. I went and put my hand between my thighs and I started moaning and saw him go to cover my mouth. All of a sudden I felt him get off me and saw him grab his phone. I stopped, until I heard him climb on top of me and whisper in my ear "Come on show me what you do to that sweet little pussy when I'm not around." I went back to pleasuring myself and I felt my release and I bought my fingers out covered in cum. He grabbed my hand and just licked the juices off. I smiled at him and listened for any sounds in the other rooms and then I whispered "I want you to fuck me like you've never fucked someone before." I stared straight into his eyes. "You really want that?" I started laughing "Yeah" He climbed on top of me and eased his way into my core, and asked me "Is this to deep?" I shook my head. All of a sudden it was slow and he was taking his time and then he sped up and I started swearing "FU-" I couldn't even get the word out. He was going faster than before he was trying really hard to hold himself up. "Norm- Norman stop." I pushed him down onto the bed, and climbed on top of him. "Babe I thought you said you couldn-" I started moving my hips "Couldn't do what? Even if I end up in pain I want this." He put both hands on my belly and helped me and then I felt my release. He had a little bit more left in him and I laid on the bed and let him finish. "That. Was. Fucking. Fantastic." I heard him breathe out when he was done. I smiled. I got up the following morning and looked in the mirror "Oh for fuck sake Norman you-" I went and tried to cover the hickey he left on my neck. "Hey gotta mark my territory." He said as he walked into the room. - "Yeah, well you marked your territory all over my boobs."

We had to leave for Georgia a few days later, and when we arrived we went costume shopping, since I wanted Mercy to have a semi-normal childhood. She started pulling on all the costumes and looking at them with her mouth open. "Okay sweetie, what do you want to be?" - "KITTY!" I went and started looking at costumes and pulled out a kitty costume that was pink and white. Mercy saw it and said "NO! KITTY!" I looked at her and said "This is the only kitty costume they have for you. I'm sorry." She ran to another costume and pointed. "Kitty!" I walked over and saw it was a skunk costume. "Kitty." She got all excited. I pulled it off of the rack and she wanted to carry it. She walked over to her daddy and handed it to him "Kitty" with a smile on her face. I saw him grab some fake cat ears and put them on her head and she just smiled. I looked over at Mingus and said "So have any idea what you want to be?" - "I don't know. Kids my age really don't do this stuff I don't think." I looked over at Norman "Yeah kids your age don't dress up, your dad loves it. Come on. Pick one out or I'll pick one out for you and it won't be pretty." I said jokingly. I looked at Norman and asked him "Well what are you going to be?" He looked at me "I haven't decided yet. I mean I want to do something original. Maybe this Daryl Dixon character everybody seems to fascinated with." I looked at him weird and bit my lip. "That's what you want isn't it? One night with him right?" He pulled me into him flirtingly. I blushed "We're in public." He whispered into my ear "That sweet lil pussy is mine tonight." I kissed him. We walked around the store for a while until Mercy had a fit, and then we decided to go home. We went home and had a nice dinner, and let Mercy play a little bit until she went to sleep. I put her in her crib, and went and climbed into bed myself. I was almost asleep when I felt the blanket get ripped off the bed and I saw Norman standing there. "What is going-" I couldn't even get the sentence out before our mouths met. He started pulling at my shirt. I felt his hand go down my pajama pants and a something enter me. I moaned into his mouth. I went and managed to help him get my bra and top off. I moved my hips as he pushed more fingers into me. "You want to cheat on me?" I looked at Norman with a weird look. "What the fuck are you talking about?" - "Don't you lie to me. How many times have you let him put his dick inside you?" - "What are you talking about? I've never cheated on you." - "You sure?" He grabbed my phone and went and pulled up one photo of me and him (dressed fully as Daryl) and put it in my face. "What the hell is this?" I knew what he was doing and I liked this side of him. "Norman I'm sorry, you're gone all the time and-" - "That gives you the right?" He stopped talking and listened for any sound of movement outside. "I... I'm sorry." I said, and he looked into my eyes. He got off me, and turned around. "So, who's better in bed?" I could see he was wanting me to say "Daryl" so I did. He pinned me to the bed lightly, "Yeah? I get it now. You're already wet and I've only said his name." He got on top of me and started thrusting into me with such force it made my core ache. "Can your boyfriend do this?" He kept thrusting and I went straight to his neck and he started going towards my breasts. He started biting my nipples and I just dug my nails into his back. I heard him let out a moan and some animalistic grunts, and brought one hand to the back of his head and ran it through his hair and just smiled. "Mmm baby." I heard him say as I reached my climax and he pulled out. I gasped. "Come on." He said as he helped me up off the bed, which my legs still felt weird because of the 'almost orgasm' that got interrupted. He sat down on the bed and pulled me into his lap. "You're going to show me what you do to him. Understand?" I shook my head and pushed him onto the bed, and quickly opened the dresser drawer next to the bed and took out a mask, and put it over his eyes. I went and started kissing on his neck and started going down to his stomach. I climbed on top of him, and felt him twitch inside of me. I started moving my hips and leaned down as far as I could with my huge belly and started kissing him. I had his arms pinned to the bed and I started moving my hips a little faster. I let his arms go and put his hands around my waist and eased off of him and back on, I did this for a little while until his cock hit one of my sensitive spots and I just kept hitting that spot and I felt his release inside me and then mine. I got off of him and pulled the mask off his face and smiled. He held onto me, and loved on me. "I love you, and I know you wouldn't ever cheat on me." I just kissed him and smiled "Maybe I should 'cheat' on you more often if that's the outcome." I went to get into bed and I needed help. "Well, maybe not. I'm seriously hurting." I curled up next to him and he held me in his arms. I asked for his help the next morning and I was still hurting. I walked to the bathroom and whispered "Fuck" to myself. I just sat there and stared at the blood stains, about the same amount as before. I heard a knock on the door and Norman's voice on the other side. I got up and looked at him with a worried look. "What happened?" I whispered in his ear about spotting again. "It's probably because of how rough we were with each other lastnight." I said to him. I changed clothes and went out into the living room and noticed Mercy coloring and sat down on the couch. "Mommy!" She said as she put the drawing in my lap. "Oh this is beautiful sweetheart." I was looking at the drawing and then I felt a huge kick. I scrunched my face up and Norman walked into the room and sat down beside me and rubbed my belly. "They are really energetic today aren't they" - "Yeah. I can't wait to find out what they are. Plus I can't wait until they are born. Twins aren't fun to carry." - "Wait until they scream and cry at the same exact time." I looked down at my stomach and couldn't believe that I was engaged and pregnant for the second time and with twins and that I had a beautiful daughter. I heard the door open and saw Mingus walk out of his bedroom half asleep and Mercy run up to him and show him the drawing that she drew. He stopped and said "Woah this is really cool."

We got ready to leave for Georgia a few days later and were supposed to stay til about the 1st week of November. I didn't really want to keep going back and forth especially since I knew that twins were normally premature even in healthy pregnancies. We finally got to our house and I was on the verge of crying. Norman pulled me into a hug and kept asking "What's wrong" - "I'm just out of my element here. I feel that something is going to happen. With all these close calls. What if I miscarry? What if I go into labor?" - "Shh. Its going to be okay." I kept crying until I got into the house and kept crying. Mercy ran up and got into my arms and just gave me a huge hug. "Mommy sad?" I looked into her eyes and said "Its okay. Mommy's just scared." She looked at me with a worried look in her eyes. Norman kept looking at me while I was crying. I stopped crying after about an hour or so. I got ready for bed after we ate dinner, and I had Mercy playing next to me while I was laying down. Norman came in and saw me and sat down, "Is there something you want to tell me?" I looked up at him and shook my head. "Come on I can take it." I sat up and just looked at him "This pregnancy is just way to much for me. I'm depressed all the time, I'm huge. I feel like you're not attracted to me anymore." He got up and just turned around and said "I hate it when you tell me that I'm not attracted to you anymore. You gave birth to my daughter, and you're pregnant with my children. You're pregnant, and you may be 'huge', but I'm more attracted to you than I am to those girls who flirt with me whenever I'm out on the streets or anywhere they flirt with me. You have a ring on your finger, isn't that enough? Either way, you're the only woman I want to come home to, to sleep with, to raise our kids with, you're the only woman I want to have a relationship with." I just sat there and listened to him. "I just don't think I'm worthy of this. All of this." - "You're pregnant, stuff is weighing heavily on you right now. It's going to get better trust me." He walked over and hugged me and held me the whole time I was asleep. A few days, Norman had to leave to go to Tulsa. He was scared to leave me alone, but left me in capable hands.

A few days later we had a special appointment to find out what genders our two little wonders were. We sat there in the waiting room. Mingus got on the floor and played with Mercy. All of a sudden they called my name and I felt Norman grab my hand. We got into the room and it was the examination. They asked me questions and I was answering them until the point of "Anything happen that wasn't supposed to happen." - "Well, I've been um spotting off an on throughout this whole pregnancy, I'm just worried something is happening?" - "When did this last happen?" - "A few days ago, we had sex the night before and the next morning I woke up and there was blood, not a bunch but any amount is something I worry about. Even though our doctor that we last talked to, in New York where we live said that it's sort of natural. If it's just a one time thing it's something to worry about, but it happens, but if it happens more than once it's something to worry about." The doctor looked at me and then looked at Norman. I have some personal questions that would end up being a touchy subject do you want your children here or?" I saw Mingus pick Mercy up and go outside and close the door behind him. "Okay, does this always happen after sex or does it happen just whenever?" - "It has always been after sex. The last doctor told us to not have sex, but my hormones have me craving sex so we're trying to stop from having sex as often as we want especially with our daughter and his son in the house." - "Well, there could be a problem if you're having really rough sex or to much. Does it normally hurt or no?" - "Sometimes it does, recently I start hurting halfway through, but I mean I kind of enjoy it. I'm just worried that something is going to happen, and I'm going to go into labor." - "Well from what you're describing I can suggest whole heartedly that if you keep having sex that something bad could happen. Now I can't stop you, but if you keep it up it could end up you going into premature labor, which you're probably going to end up that way anyway since twins normally don't wait until the actual due date." We let Mingus and Mercy back into the room and it was time to figure out what genders our babies were. I looked at the screen. The doctor searched around and found one baby. "Looks like you two have another daughter on the way." I looked over at Norman and smiled. Mingus looked happy. "And..." The doctor went to reveal the 2nd baby's gender when I looked at Mingus and said "You've got a brother." The doctor looked at me and said "So a girl and a boy." We got our photos of our babies and Norman rubbed my belly. I can't believe I'm having another daughter and son. We walked out and Mingus hugged me tight. "Finally a brother!" As soon as we got home Norman called his mom and gave her the news "Hi mom.." - "How are you sweetheart?" - "Fantastic. I've got news for you." - "Good or bad?" - "Good news." - "Well... out with it." - "We went to the doctor again and..." - "So what did we end up with this time?" - "We're having a girl and a boy." - "What?! That is great news." I looked at Norman and convinced him that we should end up breaking the silence so we wouldn't seem like we were favoring one child over the other. We had one of the best photos that you could see both babies clearly, but couldn't really tell the genders and decided to share the news with everybody. Norman wanted to do it in a cute way so he had me hold the photo in front of my bare stomach. "So.. we have some exciting news to share, last month we found out that my lovely wife is pregnant with not 1 bundle of joy but 2. Yep, you heard it from us first. We're expecting twins. I couldn't be a more prouder father and husband. Please respect our privacy during this time, as we've already had some scares already come up. Before anybody gets angry, my appearances will remain current as long as they possibly can." That night before we got into bed I rubbed my belly and smiled at myself in the mirror. I finally felt attractive, for a little while until my negative thoughts hit me again. Norman came up behind me and just wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek. "You look beautiful" he said. I smiled and said "You're not buying yourself any points mister. Especially after what happened at the doctors." He grabbed his phone and took a quick picture of us and my huge belly on display and captioned it "We know what genders our newest editions are and we can't be happier. My wife looks cute pregnant." I crawled into bed and Norman looked at me "What?" I said a little annoyed. "You're not getting anything. Stop trying." - "No. I just.. what are we going to name them? Have you thought of any names?" I just looked at him. "Not really. I mean I think the girl name I picked out is a pretty one?" - "So? What is our daughter's name?" - "You're just going to agree to whatever I say?" - "Well, I mean unless you want to name her Rainbow or Dirt or something around those lines. No. But you come up with creative ones. Are you going to keep the "M" theme going or-" I put his hand on one part of my stomach. "Meet Faith Nicole Reedus" I said with a smile. "That's beautiful. How do you come up with these creative names? Mercy Monroe Reedus? Faith Nicole Reedus?" I leaned up and kissed him and smiled. "So what do you want your son's name to be?" He thought hard. "Daryl? Murphy?" I looked at him "No. I don't think so buddy. No way in hell is that happening. Be more creative." - "What would you name our son?" I looked at him "Well, umm I would name him after you." I saw his eyes break "I.. I.. I don't know what to say about that." - "I wouldn't have named my son after my ex. I would choose you. Not to show off who his father is, but to let him know how proud his father is of him. But I understand since-" I heard the bedroom door open and Mingus walk in with his sister in his arms. "Do you need anything?" I heard Norman ask him. "I just, she wanted to eat something but I didn't know what was okay to feed her at this time." I saw Norman get up and led them to the kitchen. I just laid down and pulled the covers up over my head and just cried. I felt the blanket come off of my body, and saw Norman standing there. "What's wrong now?" - "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. There had to be a reason you didn't name Mingus after you, forget what I said. We'll come up with something else." He hugged me and told me "It's okay. I'm not mad. We'll come up with something creative pretty sure with that brain of yours and my screwed up brain we can out do anybody." I smiled. "So what did you give our daughter?" - "What was left of her milk in the fridge. Are you still going to pump or no?" - "If I don't, I'm going to leak through more shirts than I am already. I'll do it in the morning surly she won't need any before than." I saw Norman act uneasy "What?" - "Are you still going to nurse or attempt? I mean I don't know how two babies are going to work out for you?" - "I like the connection. I loved that bonding time with Mercy and if I wasn't pregnant I'd probably still nurse her before she went to sleep. If I can't handle both babies I'll nurse 1 at a time and bottle feed the other. Better question is are you going to get jealous of our son?" - "What? Of course not. Why would you say that?" - "I don't know. I'm just I don't know. I'm still taking all of this in." He came over and rubbed my belly and kissed it. I grabbed my phone and took a picture of Norman loving on my stomach and posted it with the caption "My husband is the most attentive father I know. Our unborn children are gaining so much love."

We went to the convention in Atlanta and I had Mercy in my arms and we ended up bringing her mini play pen because we didn't really want her to run off. I walked her around and let her sort of tire herself out. I grabbed my phone to take a few pictures of her just walking by herself before they opened to the public and I wanted to go sit down, carrying two babies wasn't as easy as carrying one. I started walking her back and switched to video and started filming Mercy running to her daddy when she fell and hurt herself. I went over and picked her up and carried her to the table crying. "What happened?" I heard Norman ask as I just held onto her. "She was running back and fell." I let her see her daddy and he noticed she had a little scraped knee and a few other spots. He picked her up and just loved on her. All of a sudden I felt hands around my waist. "Excuse yo-" I looked over my shoulder and saw Sean just smiling. I turned around and hugged him and his eyes went straight to my belly. "Gosh you two need to slow down. I'm so happy for you guys." Mercy kept crying. "Awe what's wrong sweetie?" - "She was running and fell and hurt her knee." - "You remember me?" Sean asked Mercy. Mercy just looked at him. He walked over to Norman and Norman half hugged him. I took Mercy out of his arms. Sean turned to Mingus and said "Woah I didn't even know you were coming. Are you ready to be a big brother again?" Sean looked over at me and said "Look at how big you are. Are you ready to be a dad again?" he asked Norman. He caught up with him and asked me and Norman "So did you guys find out what you're having this time? I think you both mentioned it but didn't say, I know you said you wanted to keep it a secret but can I know?" Me and Norman looked at each other. "Its fine if you both don't want to its okay." I went and pulled out one of the ultra sound photos. "Well actually... um". He looked at the photos and said "Well one is obviously a boy." He glanced up at Norman. "So you're having a boy and a girl. Congrats you two. Now you two can finally stop acting like horny teenagers." I blushed. He put both hands on my stomach and just smiled. He hugged me again and kissed my cheek and said "I can't believe you're going to be a mommy again." I looked over my shoulder to see Norman talking to someone, and I turned around and Norman introduced me "This is my lovely wife-to-be." - I looked at the man smiling and he introduced himself and put his hand out to shake mine but I hugged him. "Yeah she's a hugger." - "I've heard so much about you." - "As have I. Who is the cutie right here?" He looked at Mercy and acted like normal people do around babies and kids. "This is Mercy. She's going to be 1 next month. Plus she's getting a brother and sister in a few months so she's happy." I let Mercy grab something off the table and she came back with a lollipop and offered it to Roc. "Thank you." He said with a smile. "She's normally shy, but sometimes she acts like she's known them. That kinda worries me, but I don't think she'll go with someone else she doesn't really know." - "Mommy. Walk." I looked at Mercy. Wanna go walk around again?" - "Excuse me." I slightly smiled. I put Mercy on the floor and let her walk around. She was leading me around , and had a lollipop in one hand. She let go of my hand and walked straight up to Emily's booth. I noticed Emily on her phone and she looked up to see Mercy walking up to her. "Woah. You're walking now." I took a quick picture of her hugging Mercy. "She wanted to come say hi." I saw her smile. "Present" she said as she handed her the lollipop. "Thank you." Emily looked over at me and said "Everything okay? I saw that you were having twins. How have you been?" - "Yeah everything is perfect. I've been good, this pregnancy isn't as easy as the first one but I'm getting used to it. How have you been?" - "So did you guys find out what you're having this time? I know you had votes for a boy and votes for a girl. I've been great. Working." she said as she held Mercy in her arms. "Yeah. A boy and a girl. We have the ultrasound pictures at our table if you want to pop over and see them." - "Of course!" Emily had Mercy in her arms and started to carry her. "I can do that if you want." - "No its fine. No biggie." We walked over and saw Norman talking to Mingus. "Daddy!" I heard Mercy yell. Me and Emily walked up and I said "She wants to see the babies." She looked at the pictures and hugged me. "Oh I'm so proud you're happy." She let go of me and asked if she could feel the kicks and I agreed. "So, anything you need? Clothes? Toys? Diapers? Are you having a shower?" I looked at Norman and back at Emily "Well, I want to just lay low, but he wants to have a shower, I'm trying to figure out when we're going to have it. I think we're planning our wedding for December or sometime around before the babies are born. I want to get married while I still have my cute belly, but don't want to rush anything. Clothes or toys seem reasonable. Norman's stocking up on stuff and any time he sees something cute he buys it. I'm sure by the end of this whole weekend he'll buy them something." - "Well, whenever you decide I hope I'll get an invite." - "Of course." We posed for a photo together, and Emily posted it with the caption "I'm so happy for these two lovely people to be in my life and happy that their lil family is growing. I can't wait to meet the newest editions." and then she took one of her and Mercy and found the photo she had of when she was first born and put it side by side and captioned it "I remember when this lil cutie was fixing to be born and when I first held her, and now she's almost 1 and already a big sister." Mercy was being passed around and now Sean had her and she was just talking to him and he was talking to her. "Hey Reedustein is it okay if this cute lil face is shown on Instagram or no?" - "Yeah, it's okay." Sean went and posted a photo of him and Mercy and captioned it "I love getting to visit with my God-Daughter." Then he posted one of her and Rocco. Mercy was getting tons of attention, and it was so cute. When the doors opened she curled up in her brother's arms and fell asleep. "If you want to you can put her in her play pen that's sort of why I brought it, since I know she's all over the place." - "No. She's fine. She looks so peaceful." Towards the end of the day Mercy woke up and was crying. Nothing would calm her down, so we got back to the house and tried to do our best and Norman said "She's cranky. She needs sleep, but she's fighting it." I went and picked her up and I noticed her skin was hot. "Feel her. Does she feel hot to you?" Norman reached out his hand to feel her forehead. "Yeah, I can go to the store and see if they have some of that stuff to bring it down." - "That would be great." I saw him get up to leave and slipped my shoes on and went to follow him out the door. "Maybe the drive will calm her down." I carried her to the car. We put her in her car seat and went to the store and I stayed in the car while Norman went and got her some medicine. We got back home and gave her some of it and waited it out. I didn't know what to do, I hated to see her like this. I held her until I heard the crying stopped because she fell asleep. Me and Norman stayed up for a while and talked to Sean for a little bit. "So have you both decided on names yet?" - "We have sort of, our daughter's name is going to be Faith, as for our son we can't decide on a good enough one that fits both our us." Norman pulled me closer to him and I just felt our babies kick away. We enjoyed being in each others company and then it was time for bed and that was when I heard Sean say "Try to keep the noise level to a minimum you two." I went and changed Mercy and got her ready for bed, and I walked into Mingus' room and let him say goodnight to his sister. I was amazed at how well they bonded. "Is she okay?" I heard him ask. - "Yeah she's just got a small fever probably from being around all those strange people. She's fine." He handed her back to me and asked if he could say goodnight to his new siblings and I said "Of course, you don't have to ask. I mean they are your brother and sister." - "I know but I just feel I should, since you don't like it when people don't ask." - "Only when they are strangers, could you imagine how you would feel if a random person came up and just put their hands on your body without your permission? Trust me you don't have to ask. Your dad rubs and touches my belly all the time have you not seen him?" - "Yeah, but he helped create them. He has that right." I looked at him, "I give you full permission to feel your little brother and sister kick and wiggle around whenever you want. Okay? You're stubborn just like your dad you know that?" He just smiled. "Get some sleep we've got to go to another convention tomorrow." I walked out of the room and into my bedroom, and crawled into bed and put Mercy down on some pillows. "Is she okay?" I heard Norman ask as he came out of the bathroom. "She's perfect. Her fever has went down a lot. If she has one in the morning I'll probably stay home. I don't want her to get sick sick." I watched him lean down and kiss her and walked over to where I was and leaned down and pushed my shirt up, and kissed and put his forehead on my belly and started talking to our son and daughter. I started laughing. "What?" - "Nothing." I pulled his face up towards mine and just kissed him. "Your stubble just tickles." He kept kissing me and it started getting a little heated. "Stop." I told him. He stopped. "I'm sorry." I heard him say. "Its okay." He crawled into bed beside me and wrapped me up in his arms along with Mercy who had a handful of his hair. About at 3 in the morning she woke up and started crying, I carried her around and then took her outside and let the cool air hit her face. She stopped crying. I felt her head and she was a normal temperature. "You want to go watch cartoons?" She wiped her eyes and shook her head. I took her back inside and put on some cartoons and watched her sit there and curl up next to me. I heard footsteps coming from one of the bedrooms and saw Sean walk in and ask what happened. "She apparently got a little to hot or a bad dream. She's not running a fever now, but who knows. Thanks for checking on her." - "No problem. If you need anything you'll know where I'll be." I saw him turn and stopped him "You think you could watch her for a little while? I need to go to the bathroom?" - "Sure." I saw him walk over and pick her up and start talking to her. I came back and saw she was asleep in his arms. "She fell asleep." I smiled and said "Not a problem." I carried her to the bedroom and put her in her daddy's arms and fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning and was still feeling depressed over how big I already was, but knowing that my son and daughter were growing and healthy made up for it. I grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower before leaving for the convention. I could have swore I locked the door but I heard it open, and froze. "Um, someone's in here." I said. I heard clothes hit the floor and just stared at the person outside. I saw a hand reach around and start to pull the curtain, and I reached out and grabbed it. I said "Someone's in here already. I'll be out in a minute." All of a sudden Norman poked his head around and just looked at me. "Get out. I know what you're trying to do. I really don't want to go into labor please." He climbed into the shower with me and said "Its not like that I just figured you and I could you know just keep people guessing." I shook my head and went in for a kiss. "Hold on. I thought-" - "Its just 1 kiss." It started getting heated. "Stop. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." I quickly got out of the shower and dried myself off and got dressed. I saw Sean come out of the bedroom and said something along the lines of "You and Reedustein wanted some alone time you should have told us." I just looked down at my hands. I felt so bad to leave Norman hanging. I heard Mercy laughing and walked into the room and saw Mercy just sitting on the couch with Rocco drawing. I slipped into the kitchen and started to make her some breakfast and lunch. Norman came out of the bathroom and noticed me holding my belly. "Are you okay?" I looked at him "Yeah. They are kicking really hard today." He started rubbing my belly and tried to calm our son and daughter down. He told me to go sit down and I let him finish up what I was doing. "Are you okay?" I heard Roc ask. "Yeah I'm fine. Just, getting beat up from the inside today. Technically I should be on bed rest, but-" - "That's right." I heard Norman say from the kitchen. Roc reached out his hand and asked if he could feel the babies move and I let him. "I'm due in March, but I'm probably only going to last until December which scares me. I'm not capable of taking care of 3 kids." - "You seem to be doing alright with this one here." I smiled. "I guess, it sucks that I'm spending less time with her when I should be, all because I'm pregnant and wanting to sleep." - "So, tell me a little bit more about yourself? How did you meet Norman and all that jazz." - "Where do I start? I was living in Nashville at the time, and I was working for this office doing I really can't even remember. I went to get coffee one day and I realized I was running late getting back to the office and slipped and fell and I had papers and coffee cups all over the side walk. Of all the people on the streets that day, Norman was the only one who stopped. We ended up going back to the coffee shop and talked it over, and everything, nothing flirty. I should point out I was 20 at the time. I turned 21 the following year and it was like fate, I was celebrating my birthday with a few friends, and nursing a broken heart and I had a few guys hit on me, but I didn't take any of them up on the offer because I didn't want to seem sleazy, plus after walking in on my boyfriend sleeping with another girl in our bed yeah I wasn't ready for another relationship. I was sitting by myself fixing to go home when I felt a hand on my shoulder and well it was Norman. We ended up talking almost all night, I went to his hotel room, we didn't have sex or anything like that it was just a friendly gesture I think. After a few months, maybe 2, we kinda got serious I'm sure you know what I mean. He asked me to move in with him, and I took him up on the offer. My family hated our age difference, and said if I went out with him that they would disown me. I had Mercy when I was 23, which seems short to some people and I was nervous as hell, especially with all the fangirls who just said disgusting things to me. I'm hopefully going to be 25 when our daughter and son are born." - "Pretty quick to ask, but are you guys planning on more or not?" I smiled. "Well Mercy wasn't really planned, but she came into our life during a really rough time, especially mine she kept me from self harming and she's continuing to be my rock if I get those feelings. As for these two? We went and decided on another baby a few months before I found out, but stopped because I wasn't ready. Then we found out last month we have two bundles when everything I've been doing is for 1. Plus before I found out I went back on birth control so I was worried something was going to be wrong, but all the tests came back negative."

We headed off to the convention and it was just a typical day. Mercy was all over the place. She wanted everybody to hold her, and it was sad when her daddy couldn't hold her because he was busy. "You want to go for a walk sweetie?" I started walking with her and she started screaming "Da-Da!" I sat back down with her and went and pulled out a shirt, that Norman had worn previously and just wrapped her up in it. She calmed down until half way through the day. "Ma-Ma. Walk." I got up and was going to let her walk around and I turned around to see Mingus standing there "Do you want me to help? I mean I can take her places." - "I'm okay I think. I just hope she doesn't really want to be carried, it's getting more painful to bend down and pick her up." He kept walking with us, "You know my dad is worried about you right?" I looked over at him "Yeah, he doesn't want me to go into labor early, but it's probably going to happen. He can't change that and neither can I. I just hope he's here when it happens." We kept walking around and I started crying and saying how stupid I was for getting pregnant so soon. "Hey, my dad is happy. He loves kids, and pretty sure he flipped out when you told him." - "I sat in the bathroom floor and cried and he came in thinking something happened, and I showed him the test and he started crying and hugging me and being really happy. Even when he found out there were 2 of them. I felt so worried, but he was smiling and overjoyed." - "See? He's trying to tell you that you're making him happy, and he's trying to be supportive of you. Trust me, my dad has had different people come into his life and they usually stay for a while and then leave. He's scared to lose you, trust me. You didn't see what happened when he got that call about the accident. He dropped everything, he couldn't focus clearly." I just looked at him and bit my quivering lip. My thoughts were broken by Mercy screaming "Mommy!" and pointed at a picture of her daddy. "Da-Da." - "You want to go back to the table?" she shook her head. I walked her to the table and she saw Sean first and ran straight up to him and crawled under the table. I heard her start laughing. He picked her up and just smiled with her. He had a few fans ask if she was his. "Sadly no, she's Reedus' daughter. But she's my God-Daughter so I guess you could say she's sorta mine." He let her sit in his lap for a while until she wanted to come back over to our side. I pulled out a bag of baby snacks and some baby food. "Which one do you want?" She pointed at the food. I pulled out a plastic spoon and held her. "Do you want to feed her?" I offered the spoon to Mingus and he took me up on the offer. He put some food in the spoon and put it in her mouth. She ate a few bites and then wouldn't eat anymore. "Thanks." I noticed she was falling asleep. "Can I hold her?" he said. "Of course." I had her wrapped up in the shirt we brought and she was passed out. I quickly took a picture "So, pretty sure to say he's going to be an awesome big brother to his two new siblings."

I went and let Mercy get changed into her costume and just took in the fact that this time last year she was still inside of my belly. I went and got ready myself and came out of the bedroom to looks. "What?" - "I thought you were going to change into your costume?" - "This is my costume." I looked down at my outfit. "If you say so..." I heard Norman utter under his breath. I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture "See? I'm Juno." I saw him start smiling and I smiled. "Ready to go sweetie?" I saw Mercy just sit on the floor. I rubbed my belly and let Mercy have her bucket to put candy in. "Oh wait" I said when we got Mercy into her car seat. I pulled out some eyeliner and made a cute little heart on her nose and put whiskers on her cheeks. We trick or treated for an hour or two and then Mercy started getting cranky so we went back home. I got her out of her car seat to go into the house, and I put her down in the floor and I put her bucket, filled to the top with candy on the table and she got up and tried to grab it. I picked it up and carried it to the floor and sat there and took a few pictures of her with her candy. "Very first Halloween down for my lil cutie. She was a kitty. Full bucket for her first time." I saw her pick the bucket up and dump it all over the floor. I went to the bathroom and came back into the room and she came running up to me with candy and handed it to me. "Awe thank you sweetheart." She started pointing to my stomach. "Are these for your lil brother and sister?" - "YES!" she said as she kept pointing to my stomach. I smiled as I picked her up. "Did you have a good Halloween?" She shook her head. Pretty soon it was time for us to go to bed, and I checked my Instagram feed and looked at the picture Norman posted just a few seconds ago of Mercy pointing at my stomach and holding candy, with the caption "So, my daughter just gave a whole handful of candy away to her siblings." Then I scrolled a lil further and saw a picture of me carrying Mercy with the caption "First Halloween tired someone out." I crawled into bed and Norman brought Mercy in hanging halfway out of his arms because of how tired she was. "Awe. Look at my baby." Norman handed her to me and I hugged her. He put his hand on my belly and looked at me "So, you found out a name for our son yet?" I looked at him "Hmm... I have a name in mind, but I don't think it's good enough." - "Come on tell me." - "How about Levi Connor Reedus?" He looked at me and kissed me. "That's so cute." - "Yeah, but it's not rare." - "It doesn't have to be. It's perfect. So, I have to look forward to a Faith Nicole Reedus and a Levi Connor Reedus. I love you." He said as he kissed me. - "I love you too. So who do you think will be born first?" - "I don't care as long as both of them are a part of you and healthy." He put his hand on my belly. "I.. I'm sorry we can't have you know sex." I said. "Hey, our relationship isn't built on that. It's love." I went and kissed him again. "You know what else our relationship is built on?" I just looked at him "Laughter" and he started tickling me. I started laughing and begging him to stop. "Stop. Please. No." I kept lightly hitting his shoulder playfully. I saw the door open and Sean was standing there. "Woah I thought you two were having sex." Norman sat up on the bed and said "If we were you would have walked in on us." - "Yeah, but- Yeah there's really nothing I can say in this situation." He said as he rubbed the back of his head.

I woke up the next morning and felt a weird feeling in my stomach. I started to walk around and went to go get dressed, and got ready to go and as soon as I got into the car I burst out crying. Norman came up and hugged me and just loved all over me and tried to get me to calm down. "I want these babies to be in my arms right now so I don't have to deal with this. I'm crying and I have no idea why." - "Shh. Its okay baby. We'll get through this." I stopped crying before we walked into the building. We had a few minutes before the building opened to the public and I sat there trying to focus on stuff. I put Mercy's sippy cup up on the table and Norman bumped it and knocked it into the floor, and I knew it wasn't a big deal but I cried over it. "Shit" I heard him utter under his breath. He quickly went and cleaned up the tiny spill, and looked at me and loved on me. "I'm sorry." I said as I kept crying. "No, don't be sorry. You can't help it and those lil cuties in your belly are making you feel emotional." The convention was over, and we decided to take in some of the vendors and Mercy was walking and came up to this booth with these stuffed animals and went crazy. "Which one do you want" I heard Norman ask her. She grabbed one off the table and handed it to him and he picked her up and whispered "Pick out one for your brother and your sister." She went and grabbed 2 different stuffed animals. We walked around some more until Norman stopped me and said "You ready to go home?" I was exhausted, and I didn't do anything all day except take care of our daughter." I kept walking towards the exit, and he said "No, lets go out the back." I held his hand and noticed that Sean was missing. "Um.. shouldn't we uh you know wait for-" - "He'll catch up. Come on." I let him walk me into the green room and I was welcomed by a huge "SURPRISE!" and couldn't believe all the people that were in the room. I looked at Norman with a weird look. "I know you didn't want a shower, but I had to throw you one." I looked at him "I wanted to keep their genders a secret until they were born." - "Don't worry. I kinda just wanted a party, and even if they brought gifts I said "neutral". I leaned up and kissed him. I was in awe with all the effort he put into this shower. I had a few faces that I knew and recognized but a few different ones. I had a few just put their hands on my belly, and I just stood there and let them rub until they got tired. I then recognized Melissa walking over to me with a big smile on her face. "Congrats again." I smiled and said "Thank you." - "So, how are you enjoying parenthood? Ready to do it all over again?" - "I really got a great year out of it. Mercy is one of the most well behaved kids I could ever ask for. She has her moments, but it's worth it in the end. I've wanted to pull my hair out at times, but ya know she does something and it makes it worth it. I'm as ready as I could be, I mean I wish I would have waited a few years, but we both love kids so you know how it goes." We kept talking and she asked if she could feel the babies kick. I let her feel and smiled and said "Thank you so much for asking. It bugs the heck out of me when people even if I know them do it." - "I suppose it would." - "I mean I probably shouldn't talk about it with other people, but Mingus always asks and it bugs me because he has full right to not ask." - "So, how is he handling it? Excited?" - "He's handling it fantastic. I mean when I found out I was pregnant the first time he didn't really know what to say. We showed him the pictures and he thought they were of him, until we told him to look at the date. He flipped out. This time he found out through a text message. Well, we texted him a photo of the positive pregnancy test with the message "Hope you're ready to be a big brother again." I don't know if that was the right thing to do. When we found out we were having twins, last month, we texted him a photo and said "Meet your new siblings." We're kinda running out of ideas, and hopefully these two are the last babies for a while. Atleast until Mercy is 10. Maybe not even than." I had a few other people come up to me and tell me congrats and stuff. We had a small buffet style type thing for our snacks. I went and sat down, and Norman asked me if I was ready to open presents. I sighed and said "Yes!" I saw Emily walk over and she told me "I bought you something when I found out you were pregnant, but when I found out genders I bought some other stuff so there's stuff for each baby." I smiled and hugged her. I sat there and looked at everybody as they had eyes on me. Mercy got up in my lap, and I went and picked up a bag and pulled out some cute clothes. I went though all of the presents and loved all the gifts. We talked to a few of the guests, and the party seemed to be dying down, so we headed home. We got home and just rejoiced in the fact that this weekend was behind us. We were fixing to part ways until I spoke up and said "How about you guys stay a little longer? We can do stuff as friends, hell we never really get to do anything together since the distance and plus after these babies get here we'll be even more strapped for time." Over the next week we ended up going to the park and just letting Mercy run, movies, anything friends tend to do we did it.


	20. Bruises & Parties

November was here and it meant that Mercy was a few days away from being 1 year old. I was so happy to be in New York and as soon as I got home I went to the bedroom and took a picture of the bed and posted it on Instagram with the caption "So, after so many different hotels I am proud to say, I will be sleeping in this bed every night until I deliver my two bundles of joy." That night as a "Welcome Home" present Norman decided to take me, Mercy and Mingus out for a nice dinner. We got to the restaurant and started to eat, I enjoyed it. After the dinner we walked out and there were flashes of cameras all over and Mercy started crying. Fans ran up and started screaming Norman's name. I heard Mingus telling me to go to the car and he helped me to get out of the crowd. I got into the car and just held my daughter and grabbed a stuffed animal she had by her car seat and handed it to her, and she sort of calmed down. I took out my phone and recorded her crying, and posted it with the caption "I understand that you may want to rush up to Norman when he's out and about, but when you do that and our daughter is with him or I'm with him, and of course I have our daughter this the result. I'm not trying to be a bitch, but if you just come up to him and not have camera flashes and scream and freak out, as hard as it may be, I can assure you he will sign whatever you bring him, or take that ever important selfie with you. Again I'm not asking you to not come up and say 'Hi' or be a fangirl/fanboy. I'm asking you to take in to account that there's someone who doesn't understand what is going on and is scared easily. Also, if you are taking pictures PLEASE DON'T DIRECT ALL YOUR FOCUS TO OUR DAUGHTER. We share enough photos, in our opinion of our daughter and really don't need you plastering our daughter's face all over. I feel that she should be able to live a semi-normal life no matter who her father is." Norman finally got to the car and I had Mercy in my arms. "Sorry about that." He said. I shook my head, "You don't have to apologize to me." I looked down at Mercy. He looked upset. He grabbed his phone and took a picture of me holding Mercy and uploaded it and captioned it "I will get a lot of hate and I'm sure people will tell me I'm rude to the fans, but time and time again, my daughter is scared due to all the fans who want to rush me in public places. I understand you might be star struck but please be courteous of my daughter's feelings. She doesn't understand what is going on and it really bothers her. Again, I don't mean to be a dick or anything but I don't want my daughter to be traumatized." We got home and I gave Mercy a bath, and then got myself ready for bed. I curled up in bed and looked at all the stuff from Walker Stalker this past week and noticed some of the fans took pictures while in line waiting for autographs. I was reading through some and almost cried because one fan posted a picture and said "So, I don't get why people bitch about Norman's fiance/wife. She was one of the most down to earth people I've ever met. She interacted with the guests, and throughout the whole weekend she was letting fans have candy while waiting in line. I didn't really get to talk to her that much, because I was star struck by Norman, but she was super awesome. Plus she was a really hands on mom/step mom. Plus she was all lovely with Norman. I wish these two the most happiest in their future." I commented on the post "This actually brought tears to my eyes. I actually remember you, out of all the guests we had. You were very nice and this post was so cute. Thank you for your kind words and wishes."

I woke up the next morning, and I actually felt good about myself. I noticed Mercy was still asleep. I couldn't believe in a few short weeks she would be 1. I just looked down at my enormous belly and couldn't believe this was my life. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't shake the feeling that my first child was already 1. I grabbed her hand and put it on my cheek and just sort of cried and whispered "You'll always be my baby no matter how big you get." I was woke up by Mercy pulling on the sheets trying to climb up into the bed with me. "Mommy!" I reached out and had her in my arms and put her on the bed. "Play?" I looked at her and was completely exhausted, I don't know if it was all the traveling or if it was due to pregnancy, or a bit of both. "Okay sweetie. Mommy is getting up." I got out of the bed, after a little struggle and Mercy wanted me to carry her and I picked her up. I went and put her in her room "Okay what do you want to play?" She brought me some toys out and we started playing. We played for about 30 minutes and then I felt a hard kick out of nowhere. Mercy must have noticed because she acted all concerned. "Mommy okay?" I looked at her with a smile and said "Yes, mommy is okay. Your little brother and sister must want to play to because one of them just kicked me hard." I put her hand on my belly and saw her sort of put her face close and said "Play?" I was amazed at how she was able to understand something so complex as pregnancy at her age. I heard the door open and saw Norman standing in the doorway with a huge smirk on his face. Mercy turned and saw him and went running. "Daddy!" He bent down and picked her up and kissed her cheek. "Having fun with your mommy?" He asked her and she shook her head. I stood up and walked over to him and he noticed something was wrong. "Do you need anything?" I just looked at him "I'm exhausted. I'm hurting non-stop. I'm having a hard time. I'm okay." I saw his eyes drift down to my shirt and I looked down at my shirt "Oh for fuck sake." I went into the bedroom and just sat on the bed and cried. I sat there for a few minutes and I heard the door open and Norman stood there and I looked at him. He came in and got down in the floor and looked up at me. "Tell me everything that is going on right now. I'm an adult and I can handle it." - "I'm just. I'm exhausted and I want to sleep for a long time. I'm sore, and my boobs hurt and I'm leaking through shirts a lot and I... I.. don't even know how to handle everything. I'm depressed." He tried to make me smile, and it wasn't working. "Honey, I'm honestly sorry I got you pregnant the 2nd time around and with twins. I know that is more pressure than I would ever wish for you, but when those two babies pop out you're going to be so happy. Like I said time and time again, if you want to sleep go ahead I'm not going to hate you. You need it, those babies have got to take a lot out of you. Mercy seems to be happy when she plays with me, and I'm sure she won't hate you for it." He leaned up and kissed me, and I kissed him back and I hugged him and smiled.

The next day I stayed in bed almost all day, and heard Mercy and Mingus playing together in a different room and then I heard a loud bang and then Mercy started crying. I got out of bed and was in a panic "What happened?!" I saw him holding his sister. "She was running and slipped and-" I saw the bump on her head. "I'm sorry." was all he could say over and over. "I'm not mad. Accidents happen. Shhh." I started loving on her, and she just grabbed my hair and kept crying. "Where is your dad at?" I asked him "He's out shopping I think. He left a note." He brought me the note and I read it. I walked over to the freezer and took an ice pack out and wrapped it up and put it on the bump. "Is she going to be okay?" - "I think so. Head injuries are always one of the most painful." A few minutes later Norman came through the door and I was holding Mercy who was still sort of crying. "What happened?" - "We.. we were playing and she was running and slid and hit her head. She's got a small bump on her head." I let him put the groceries away, and he took her out of my arms or tried to she wouldn't let go of my hair. He let me hold her while he tried to look at it. "Its a tiny bump. Nothing major." I kept a hold of her until I felt something drip down my back. "She's asleep." I heard Norman say in an almost whisper. I held onto her for a while until I let Norman hold her. "Sorry." I heard Mingus say again. "It is okay, it was an accident." Me and Norman both said. Mercy woke up a few hours later, as we sat down to dinner and she latched back onto me. I had her in my lap and tried to eat. She picked up some of the vegetables and started putting them in my mouth. I started to get her ready for bed, and she wanted down on the floor and she grabbed a stuffed animal and carried it into her brother's room and handed him a stuffed animal with a smile. "See? She doesn't have any bad feelings towards you." I said with a smile. He picked her up and sat her down on the bed while he played a video game. I walked out of the room and then went into the kitchen and helped Norman clean up. "I've got this. Go relax." - "No, I'm okay." He came over and put his hand on my belly and smiled. "You ready for these two to arrive?" - "Of course." I said as I kissed him. It turned into a make out session quick and I pulled away from him, because I knew what it was leading up to. "Um.. if you want to we can try to have you know,sex, again. I'm sure one time isn't going to cause me to go into labor." - "No, I did this the first time around and I can do it again. Plus I..." He stopped talking. "You what?" - "Nothing forget it." - "No what? I'm really interested." - "You know that album I have that requires a password to get into?" - "Oh..." My stomach dropped. "No." He went and grabbed his phone and typed something in and looked at me "Don't get upset okay?" - "I can't promise that." He showed me the phone and I looked at the images and was looking through all of them and was about to just throw the phone back at him and noticed something. I saw my distinct c-section scar in the photos. "What is this?" I clicked and saw the video and it was me and Norman having sex. I cleared out of everything and handed the phone back to him "Why do have that?" - "Because I travel a lot and it gets lonely and you're the only thing I can get off to?" I just looked at him "That's not true." - "No it is. You're real, I get to come home to you. I don't get to come home to those other girls." He came over and hugged me and I smiled. "You're really sweet you know that?" Norman continued to be flirty with me all night and I went and got ready for bed and Norman came into the bedroom and helped me get into bed. "So, I want to get some photos of you with your belly. Maternity photos." he said as I looked at him with a weird look. "Now?" - "If you want. If not we can do it later." - "No now is fine what do you want me to do?" He started to take the thin sheet off the bed and asked me to undress and I looked at him "I'm not going to take anything graphic." I undressed and he wrapped the sheet around me so that it only covered my personal areas as I laid on the bed. He took a few photos and told me he was done. I looked at them, and smiled I was actually happy. I grabbed Norman and just pulled him into my body and started to undo his pants. "Woah. Hold up. Stop." I stopped and he said "I don't want to risk anything." I went and grabbed his hand and put it between my legs and whispered "I'm so wet right now. Don't let this go to waste please." He pulled away from me, and just looked at me. "I.. I don't want to hurt you." - "You're not going to hurt me. I promise." He started to get undressed and we started having sex and then I started hurting. "Stop." Norman pulled out and I just laid there. "Shit are you okay?" He asked. "Yeah, I'm just hurting a bit." - "Please don't tell me you're in labor." - "No, I think you just went to deep." I looked at him all worried and said "It was an accident. Don't beat yourself up about it." I went and got dressed and he was still upset with himself. "Really. Don't worry. It was my fault. I wanted to have sex, and.." I trailed off. He kissed my head and went into the bathroom and I heard the shower turn on and I knew what was happening. I sat on the bed and just cried, I couldn't even have sex with my 'husband'. I knew he loved me, but just in the last year our sex life was thrown out the window, with all the times our daughter slept in our bed, traveling, and now another pregnancy. The bedroom door opened and I saw Mingus standing there holding his sister who was asleep. "What's wrong?" I heard him ask. "Nothing. Adult stuff. Nothing you should concern yourself with." - "Was my dad being a jerk again?" - "Haha. No. Just stuff dealing with your little brother and sister." He put his hand on my belly "Does it hurt when they kick?" - "Sort of. Sometimes they kick really hard and it hurts a lot more, but you know they can't communicate any other way." Mercy had a hold of his hair, and he sort of shifted her around in his arms. "You want me to take her?" He handed her to me and she started crying. "Awe its okay sweetie. Shh. So when are you supposed to go home, not that I'm rushing you." - "Dad has something happening this month, so I'm staying until after he gets back from California. I'll leave sometime after the 12th. But my mom did say that I can visit when you have the birthday party, you are having a birthday party right?" - "I'm sure. I don't know where we'll have it though. Parks are going to be paparazzi central. So we'll probably just have one here since it won't be a big thing." - "So.. when are you and my dad getting married?" - "We really haven't set a date. We love each other so it's not that important." - "Yeah, he's been happier since he met you. He's actually been smiling a lot more." I smiled. "Can you keep a secret?" - "I guess. It depends on what it is." - "Promise you won't say anything, but your grandmother is coming to visit in December and she's staying until your brother and sister get here. Your dad doesn't know and she wants it to be a surprise. Don't tell him?" - "I promise." Right about that time Norman came into the room.

I was asleep until about 2 in the morning when Mercy started crying. "What's wrong sweetie?" I held her. "Scary" - "You want to watch cartoons?" I put some cartoons on for her and let her watch them until we both fell asleep. I woke up a few hours later because of the babies was kicking really hard over and over. I got out of bed and walked around for a few minutes and it stopped. I sighed as I got into bed again. I fell back asleep and must have been asleep almost all day. I looked at the clock and saw it was almost 2 in the afternoon. I looked at Mercy still asleep next to me. I just laid there and waited for her to wake up. After about 30 minutes she woke up and started pulling on my hair and trying to pry my eyes open. "Hi." I said with a smile. I picked her up and carried her with me. We were trying our best to potty train her and she actually went to the bathroom without a problem. "YAY!" I was so proud of her. We started this little calendar thing with morning, afternoon, evening marked and put a little sticker on the afternoon part, but before I did I noticed the morning part was marked. "You're growing up. You've got a sticker on your morning." I started tickling her and she started laughing. I carried her and saw Norman doing stuff around the apartment. "Did you put a sticker on her morning thing for her potty time?" - "Yeah." - "She just got another one." He smiled. "She's growing up." He took her out of my arms and held her. "Pretty soon she'll be your age and she'll have her own little fam-" - "Don't you even say that. I don't want to think that far ahead." - "So why did you end up, you know starting a relationship with me?" - "Do you want my honest opinion?" - "Of course." I saw Mercy start grabbing Norman's hair and just play with it. - "Well, I fell in love with you when you actually helped me when everybody else walked on by. Plus when you invited me back to your hotel room, I sort of half expected we would talk and then we would sort of get drunk and have drunk sex, but we didn't. We didn't even have any sex until 2 months of knowing each other. We got to know each other for a long time, and then we well look at us. You were there when I needed someone, you made me feel wanted. You were a shoulder when I needed it, and we became more the way I always intended love to be, friends and then more. Now you're the father, the only father I ever want for my kids." He kissed me and I smiled. We played with Mercy for a while.

I laid in bed unable to get comfortable and just felt the two little humans who called my belly home for the time being and just smiled. Knowing that my body could go through this amazing change, was just surreal. I got up to get something to eat, thinking that maybe I needed to eat something, but as soon as I went and ate something I threw up all over the kitchen floor. I went to go clean it up, and I heard foot steps and looked up and saw Norman standing there and he rushed over to me thinking I was hurt. "Are you okay?" - "Yeah, I just went to eat something and ended up throwing up." He helped me up and noticed my skin was sort of hot. "Are you feeling okay? You're burning up." - "I feel okay, I don't feel any different from any other day." He helped me back to the bedroom and into the bed and went and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. I must have slept for a long while, because I was woke up by noises and I still wasn't feeling good but I decided to get up because Mercy needed her mommy. I walked out of the bedroom, and Norman looked up while he was helping Mercy color and I sort of smiled. He walked over to me and felt my forehead again and sort of freaked out "You feel a little cooler than this morning."

Norman had to fly to LA for an art show which left me alone in the apartment, well not really alone since I had Mercy and Mingus to keep me company. The day Norman left was one of the hardest days ever. Mercy started crying and I started crying and realized it was about to be harder since we had 2 new lives into the mix. I never pictured my life like this where my husband had to leave to support our family, and I never wanted to hear my daughter cry because her dad had to leave. After he left I just held Mercy and tried to stop myself from crying because I didn't want Mercy to catch onto me crying. Mingus took his sister and told her "Dad is going to come back. He's working, so you can be a kid and not worry about other stuff." He looked at me "Can I take her into my room and let her play games with me?" I smiled "You can try. If you need me, um just wake me up okay? If you don't want to baby sit you know where I'm at okay?" He shook his head. "Wait, umm come here I need to show you something." I walked him into the kitchen and showed him Mercy's shelf of food and showed him stuff in the fridge. "Any of this stuff is okay to feed her. She can eat the stuff on her own, but she might have trouble. So far she hasn't choked on anything YET, but always always make sure that she swallows the food that she has in her mouth to try to prevent that. If anything happens umm feel free to wake me up, I'm not going to be mad or grumpy, I'm her mother and you're her brother, so you shouldn't have to do everything. Questions?" - "Um not that I should, but I know you and Dad are training her to you know..." - "Oh. That's something to wake me up for, I know you haven't been taught what to do but you probably know but yeah wake me up." I went into the bedroom and fell asleep. I was woke up a few hours later and took my daughter to the bathroom and let her go back and play games with her brother, but before she went and grabbed her kitten and hurried into the bedroom. I smiled and went back into the bedroom and fell back asleep I was woken up again by my phone ringing and I rolled over and saw it was Norman who was just calling to see how everything was going "We're good. I was just trying to catch up on sleep while Mingus was playing with Mercy." We talked until I got up and walked into the room and saw Mercy trying to figure out how to work the controller and she looked over at me and I looked at her as she stood up and tried to get the phone away from me. I was smiling ear to ear as she was there talking to her daddy. After a while she started to hand the phone to her brother and almost jumped into my arms. "Are you okay now?" I looked down at her in my arms. I started to cook dinner, after I prepared dinner we sat down to eat and Mercy wouldn't sit still. "Did she eat anything today?" I asked "She ate a little bit of yogurt but that was about it." I sort of smiled. "Come here sweetie" I said as I took her out of her chair and put her in my lap and she started grabbing food off my plate and ate it, and then started trying to feed me. There was something inside me that I felt depressed because she was so used to all of my attention being on her but soon it was going to be divided 3 ways. We finished dinner and while I was cleaning up I saw Mingus standing there "Is something wrong?" I stopped and looked at him. "No. Why?" - "You seem upset about something." I looked down at my stomach "I feel guilty for getting pregnant this soon. I know she's going to be heartbroken when the attention has to be given to someone else. I don't regret these babies, because they are a blessing and I'm happy, but she's going to have a problem adjusting. I'm just... depressed about everything. I shouldn't even be talking about this with you, I should just wait until your dad gets home." - "She's going to feel left out, but I'm sure you both will figure something out. Trust me, I felt a little left out when you first had her and my dad was spending time with her, but he has included me in stuff and I don't feel that left out." I went back to putting the dishes away and got Mercy ready for her bath. She got really fussy when I tried to give her a bath. "Come on sweetie. Your daddy will be home soon just give me a chance. Please?" She kept getting fussy and I put her in the bed and grabbed my phone and just hoped Norman would have his phone next to him and he wasn't busy. I smiled when I saw his face pop up and gave the phone to Mercy who got all happy and started jumping on the bed. She sort of calmed down and handed me the phone and I smiled just seeing my husband's face. "So.. how was your day?" He asked "Eh chaotic. We have something to talk about when you get home. Important stuff." We kept talking until he asked how the babies were and I lifted my shirt up and showed him the movement going on. "Have they been kicking hard today?" - "Eh about the same as they always do. Mercy has been cranky all day today though. Every single step of the way she's fought me. When are you coming home? Having fun? Sorry." - "It would be better if you were here, but you need to stay in one place right now since you're about ready to pop. I should be heading home sometime this weekend. So I should be home hopefully by Sunday." I looked at him and sighed. "I honestly could go into labor at any time, hell I'm waking up every morning wondering if today is going to be the day. I don't want you to not be there. After all the doctor said I could go into labor a few months ahead of time. I'm scared." - "I know. This has got to be scary for you since you just got thrown into this motherhood thing. You're an amazing mother, and you're going to excel in this new journey." - "Norman.. I was pregnant when we went to Nashville." I saw him just look shocked. "How?" - "I got sick when we went to Georgia like 2 times. Plus in the coffee shop, I got sick. I don't know why I didn't get sick after that... but yeah." - "Well, we did have unprotected sex before so that means maybe on the first or second try it happened?" I just smiled. "Well, whatever but I'm happy. It was way to soon, but you know what we both have to much love to share. " - "I have until the middle of December to cancel the cruise so if-" - "I'm just wondering if I'll even make it til Christmas. What if.. I mean they would be born at 6 month that's too soon right? I don't want to go visit my son and daughter in a NICU. What if they don't make it?" - "Hey, don't think about that. They are going to be healthy." We talked for a little bit longer and then we said our goodnights to each other. I started to film my stomach moving from the movements of my son and daughter and posted it on Instagram "So our little bundles of joy are all excited because their daddy just got off the phone. We can't wait until he gets home." I woke up one morning, sort of late but managed to wake Mingus up "Do you want to go with me and your sister to get your dad from the airport?" - "Su-Sure." I heard him say as he was waking up. I carried Mercy into her room and changed her and then put her into her car seat and off to the airport we were. We found a parking spot and waited and then we went inside and stood there. "DADDY!" I saw Mercy freak out in my arms and saw Norman and put her down to let her run to her daddy and he had a huge smile on his face when he saw her and dropped his bags and picked her up and just hugged her. Me and Mingus walked over to them and he looked surprised. "We wanted to surprise you. So.. SURPRISE!" I said as I smiled. He hugged all of us. We spent that day just spending time together, we went and got some stuff for Mercy's first birthday party which was a few short days away.

November 17th arrived and I sat there looking at Mercy asleep in my arms. "Congrats you've been a mother for an entire year. How do you feel?" Norman whispered to me. I started to cry "This whole year has gone so fast, I mean... you've lasted 16 years how do you keep going?" - "A parent will always want to keep their kids small, but they have to grow up. We help them along the way, and in return we get the feeling that we've done all we could for them." - "I just... this year has been chaotic. I've lost my patience with her, but she's grabbed my hair and I've let all of that go. I can't picture my life without her. Or you. Or all of the people in my life right now. Thank you." - "You're so welcome." he said as he snuggled me closer. "So do you miss anything from before she was born?" - "Hm?" - "Do you miss anything from before she was born?" - "No. I thought my life was complete before but she's made my life complete." I lifted up her lil hand that she let me paint and just smiled. "I never saw myself as a parent before I met you, I was scared that I would fail. But I think I managed to not screw up. I couldn't have done it without your help though." I saw him smile. "You know it's weird..." - "What?" - "We said something along the lines of by the time she's a year if it went good we would try to give her a brother or a sister to keep her company, and..." - "We had this planned. I suppose. I don't care if our children are not planned because I'll love them with every ounce of my being." - "Our kids were all planned in a way, Mercy came along when I needed something to save me, not that you didn't. These two needed someone to love them, and we are those people to love them." I noticed Norman get up and start redecorating and making the apartment look all 'festive' for the party. "It sucks that it had to rain today. I wanted to have the party in the park." - "Yeah, but what can you do? Wasn't it raining when we brought her home from the hospital?" - "I think so. Why?" - "Just wondering. What time did she go to bed lastnight?" - "A little after 3. I couldn't get her to sleep." - "Why does she keep having those nightmares?" - "Kids have over active imaginations... remember how she looked up to you when we took her to set and she saw those "walkers" and got scared and you like stepped in and "killed" them and she stopped crying cause she thought you were her savior? She looks up to you, you're her hero. She freaked out a few nights after that." - "I feel that what I do is something that would scare any kid. Yet, so many little kids a few years older than her come up to me and-" - "You're a hero in their eyes doing that. We let her stay with us until she falls asleep when we watch it every Sunday, I admit we shouldn't but we do." I shifted Mercy around and heard a little sound come out of her mouth. We had the decorations all set and were fixing to go get the cake, and I stopped "I can bake. I'm going to make her cake myself. Please?!" I brought out all the stuff and made the cake and put it into the oven. Norman was carrying Mercy around in his arms. "She needs to wake up." - "She's growing in your arms. Let her sleep. Besides today is her day and if she wants to sleep let her sleep." I heard a knock on the door and opened the door and noticed a man on the door step. "Um I've got some packages for you." - "Oh. I let Norman go grab the packages and held Mercy until she woke up. I looked at the packages and pulled them over to the couch. "Oooh Mercy look you have presents." I noticed they were from different people, and noticed a big one from Sean. "Look you have a present from 'Uncle Sean'" She snatched it out of my hands. "You have to wait until the party sweetie." We waited for a while and then Norman came back in and I saw Mingus come out of his room. "My mom should be here in a few minutes." Mercy ran up and hugged him "Bye" I just looked at them "Happy Birthday." - "Mercy, sweetie he's not leaving yet." I saw her grab a present and run over to her brother "Open?" He looked at me "Go ahead. Wait. Who is it from?" - "I think this one is from one of the crew." He showed his dad the gift. I took a picture of all the presents "So we got a huge delivery this morning. Many thanks to our friends, family, cast mates, etc. We are really thankful for everything you guys do for us." I took a picture of Mercy with the present when she opened it. She went and grabbed the one from Sean. "Mommy!" I switched it over to video and recorded her opening it up and she looked at it and got all happy. She had a little card with it, and handed it to me. I posted the video and tagged Sean and said "Thank you for your wonderful gift, I think it's proud to say someone is happy about her new best friend. Also thank you for the gifts for our two new bundles of joy. You're one of our best friends and I'm happy we're friends." I let Mercy open all her presents, but she only got about 4 of them open and we let her get some cake. I took a picture of her cake "I may burn things.. but I made sure not to burn my first birthday cake. #Happy1stBirthday #Motherhood #BabyReedus" We put a piece in-front of Mercy and did the whole Birthday thing and I just smiled as she just smashed the cake and ate it. After a while of eating, I heard a knock on the door and Norman went and opened it. I saw Helena standing there with a smile on her face "Oh is the party over?" - "No, we're trying to get the cake ate. Would you like a piece?" I offered her a plate. "Oh, um I brought this." She gave me a gift bag and looked at Mercy. "So how was your first year as a mother?" - "Rewarding. I've never done anything this rewarding in my whole entire life." - "That's good to hear. How's she liking the new status?" - "She loves it. When she first felt the kicks, she was smiling and laughing. Speaking of kicks, do you want to feel?" - "Sure." and she put a hand on my stomach. "So, you're having another girl and a boy? I think that's what I heard." - "Yep, that's right. Hey, listen, I just want you to know I really appreciate the kindness you've shown me, ever since I came into well your life. If you need anything, just ask okay." I said as I looked at her. "You're so welcome. You treat my son like he's yours and you're not jealous of the contact that me and Norman have as a result. I didn't know what to think about the two of you went you first came into the picture, but you're wise beyond your years." We talked for a while and then Mercy went and opened her present and looked at it and ran over to me with a smile on her face. She got tons of toys for her birthday, enough to keep her entertained. I crawled into bed that night and couldn't believe I made it a year. I was looking at all the stuff Norman posted throughout the day and saw one of me and Mercy when she first got home from the hospital asleep beside one that was taken this morning. "A year ago today my wife gave me my beautiful daughter, and today I look back on my life, and see my beautiful girls together and it just amazes me. I've seen her (my daughter) grow within a year and she's just perfect. My wife is such a strong woman, she ALWAYS puts our daughter first and has stayed behind just so my daughter will always have a parent with her." I started smiling from ear to ear. "Mercy want to see something?" I saw her crawl over to me and I went and found the ultrasound photos of when she was still 'cooking' "This is you inside mommy's belly." She crawled into my lap and took the pictures from me and looked at them. I pointed at the little human in each photo "That's you." I saw her just look at each one. "See, you were just like your brother and sister last year." I looked at her turn around and go to my enormous belly and just say "I love you" to her brother and sister. I saw her stand up and grab my hair and look into my eyes "I love you." I started crying "Sad?" She turned her head to the side. "No, mommy is just happy. Mommy loves you too." Norman walked in and I was smiling "What?" and patted the side of the bed for him to sit down. After he sat down, clearly exhausted, Mercy crawled over to him and said "I love you" and I saw his face change completely. "Wha-What did you say?" - "I love you" and she started jumping on the bed all excited. He looked over at me, "Did you-" I raised my hands "Don't look at me. We say it enough to her and and each other maybe she caught on? She's smart."I woke up the next morning and felt a huge commotion going on in my belly. I felt Norman's hand go to my belly because apparently I was moaning and groaning. "I think they are fighting." I heard him mutter. - "Sibling rivalry already?" I muttered back to him. I just laid there and tried to relax and glanced up at Mercy asleep between the two of us with her fists twisted in our hair and her foot beside my belly. "Did yesterday really happen?" I asked Norman. "You know you asked me that after you gave birth to her." I smiled at him, and he looked at me "You're a wonderful mother, and you're going to be a great wife." I smiled really big and laughed "You're a wonderful father, and you're going to be a great husband." I moved Mercy a little bit in order to go be closer to Norman. He grabbed his phone and took a selfie of the 3 of us. We woke up, and carried Mercy around with me until I had to put her down. She cried when I put her on the couch "Mommy is so sorry but... She can't carry you that much right now." I sat down on the couch and just clutched my stomach. All it took was one hard kick to send my world into something I wasn't ready for right now. I saw Norman walk in and look at me worried. "I'm not in labor, it was just a hard kick and I was holding Mercy and here I am." He put his hand on my belly and I looked at him "We might want to get ready by the end of this month. I don't honestly think I'm going to make it to my due date." I looked at his worried face and I was scared to death. Norman put on a movie for Mercy to watch and I just laid my head in his lap and must have fallen asleep because I woke up in the bed and it was dark outside. I got up and went to go get something to drink and felt kind of dizzy. Norman started to suspect something was wrong so he wanted me to go get checked out. We got to the hospital and they examined me and said I wasn't in labor but they ran tests, and the babies were fine. I must have fallen asleep and woke up to Norman kissing my forehead. "Did they find out what was wrong? Is something wrong with the babies?" - "You're dehydrated. They've got an IV started and want you to get more fluids and take it easy. So.. when we do get to go home, you're getting into that bed and not lifting a finger for anything." - "But I've got-" - "You've got to look out for those two lives inside you right now. I can take care of Mercy, why don't you trust me?" - "You shouldn't have to, I'm here. She needs her mother." - "And what good are you going to be if you're in and out of the hospital?" - "So, both of the babies are healthy? Nothing is wrong with them?" - "Perfectly. They said they look a bit smaller than they should, but that's nothing bad. Oh and, they said-" - "What?" - "They said that more than likely if you're having all these complications you're probably going to probably have another c-section just to be safe." I burst out crying. "No. I... I don't want to go through being cut open again." - "They said it's about 50/50 right now, but they said if you take it easy everything would work out and they said that you might deliver a month or so early. Again, this is just them guessing here. They also said that it would help if you did the light duty stuff." They released me after a few hours and as soon as we got home I went to bed and fell asleep. I woke up at certain points throughout the day, and saw Mercy and Norman asleep next to me, I guess it was nap time. I went back to sleep and woke up to the smell of food cooking and walked into the kitchen and saw Norman trying to make sure nothing was burning. He had his back turned to me and I walked up to him and just put my arms around his waist. He turned around and was actually surprised to see me awake "I didn't think you were going to get up. How did you sleep?" - "Pretty good. I woke up because of a hard kick. I looked at the living room floor, which was a mess and saw Mercy asleep in the middle of everything. "She wasn't a problem, she just dragged everything out. I think we're making up for all that time I spent away from her." I walked over and kissed him and walked to go get my daughter and picked her up and walked to the couch and just looked at her little mouth as her lip sort of quivered in her sleep. "You know she looks like you when she sleeps?" I heard Norman whisper to me. "When you're gone she stretches out like you." I whispered back. I felt his hand go to my bare belly, because my shirt came up. I looked at my belly which was huge. "I still love you, I've always loved you. Nothing is going to change that." I heard him say to me. "I don't see how. I'm not skinny, I've got stretch marks." - "I like you for what is on the inside. The outside doesn't matter. Plus you've given me three beautiful children." - "I don't get why, I can't give you sex hardly anymore. I wouldn't blame you if you cheated on me." - "I don't care about that. Hell, I've been single a few times and I'm not going to sleep around. I'm surprised that you're a hands on mother, most parents put their needs ahead of their children, and I'm happy you're not like that." Mercy started to wake up and I looked at her and her eyes just seemed to make everything go away. We ate dinner, and Mercy ate what we put on her plate which was something soft. I started eating and I looked at Norman looking at me because I was moving slow. "Anything wrong?" - "No, I'm just, the babies are hungry I guess." We finished dinner and I went to go get an popsicle out of the freezer and gave it to Mercy. "That good sweetie?" I saw her sucking on it, and she handed it to me and went and got some stuff out of the floor and brought it to me. We played for a while, until I got tired. "You want to help clean up?" Mercy went and took all the toys out of the floor and put them on the couch. "No, come on lets put them in this box and we'll put it in your room. You can play with it tomorrow." We collected all the toys in the box and I pushed it to the nursery. Mercy ran up to me and put her hands on my belly and wanted me to pick her up. "You want to tell your brother and sister good night?" She shook her head. I carried her into our bedroom and put her on the bed, and she went straight to my belly. She wanted down so I put her on the floor cause I thought maybe she wanted to go see where her daddy was. I didn't hear anything except for the dishes being put up, and I heard my phone vibrate and saw a text message say "Shh.. Look outside the bedroom door." I got up and saw Mercy sitting in front of Mingus' bedroom door which was closed. I quickly took a picture of her. "So.. this happened. She's missing her brother." I texted the photo to Mingus with the caption "Someone wants to say goodnight." My phone started ringing and I looked at Mercy "Come here sweetie." and she stood up and walked over to me and I handed her the phone and she was so happy.

Over the last couple days I completely forgot that Mercy never got her 1 year shots, so I made an appointment quickly and shuffled her into the doctor. She was just sitting in the floor playing with another girl her age, and they called our names and I walked with her to the room. I was feeling pretty confident about everything until they brought the needle in and after they stuck her she started crying and hitting me. I couldn't handle it, I just wanted her to be protected. She kept crying all the way home, even the suckers they gave out didn't help. I got her home and she was calmed down and I went and made her a bottle and handed it to her. "Mommy and Daddy are only trying to do what is bed for you." She curled up in my lap "Cartoons?" I looked at her as she said that. "Okay what do you want to watch? We have Spongebob, Clarence, Bob's Burgers, South Park." I trailed off naming off all the different shows that were on. "Spongebob!" I turned on an episode and she just fell asleep in my arms. I could never get over her face, it was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen, she had features of me and features of Norman. Norman came in and sat down next to me and offered to take her so I could go to the bathroom, I thought this bathroom thing sucked with one child, but two... it was so much more often.

I had an appointment on the 25th and I was just eager to see my son and daughter. We were waiting for the doctor and they did the whole exam and and told me that everything was perfect. The ultrasound, from the moment I first saw Mercy on that screen, I was amazed. The emotions that came up were indescribable, the fact that I got so connected with this little unknown human, before they were even in my arms. I cried throughout the whole thing, and the doctor kept smiling at me. "You're so cheerful." I managed to choke out, "I'm just happy, that I have this amazing chance." They gave us some photos and we chose 1 out of all the photos we received to post for the fans to see. "So, we went to see our wonderful bundles of joys.. Any idea on what we're having? #Twins #WhatAreWeHaving #Pregnancy" Norman couldn't keep his hands off my belly, every moment of every day he had his hands practically glued to that part of my body. My phone went off and I saw it was my friend who I had a fight with in the last few months, I left it alone until about the 5th time in a row. I picked it up and was angry "What the fuck do you want?" My friend kept asking if Norman could get her husband a job on TWD and I was dumbfounded "Fuck no. Why? He can't get any jobs anywhere else?!" She went off and I was pissed off to the max. "Listen bitch, he's not going to put his ass on the line for you. I thought you two would have forgot us when we told you to leave after I almost caught you guys having sex in our bed." I listened to her plead her case. "No! That is my final answer." I hung up the phone and she called right back, I handed the phone to Norman who just listened and then he got pissed off, after all the problems we've had with those 2 people who were supposed to be our friends. I took Mercy into her room and just held onto her and cried while we played together. "What part of NO do you not understand? We haven't talked to you in a few months, and all of a sudden you call us? You were the two who thought it was okay to fuck each other in another couple's bed. Do me and my family a favor... lose our fucking number. My wife doesn't need anymore stress right now." I heard him just say stuff he never said around me. "FUCKING STUPID ASS BITCH! GODDAMMIT. WHY THE FUCK-" I heard him knock on the door of the room. "Hey, you okay?" I looked up from holding Mercy with tears in my eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay." All of a sudden I heard a knock on the front door and Norman went to open it and there was a police officer on the other side. "We got a call about a fight?" - "There has been a misunderstanding officer, you see my wife got a call from an ex friend of her's and the person stalked her, and-" I walked out still crying. I managed to choke out "Yeah, he's right." I went and grabbed my phone and showed them that the number had called several times within a 10 minute period. They took me and Norman and separated us, and asked me if anything happened that I wasn't telling them. "I've told you what happened." They kept us apart and let us go when they realized we told the exact same story.

A few days later it was sort of warm, and Norman wanted to get some maternity photos done. We went out into the middle of nowhere, I was out in the dress that Norman bought me and some cute grey and white leggings. Norman brought someone, who he trusted to get family photos of us together, and we borrowed Mingus for a few hours in order to do a 'family' style photo. I did what Norman told me to do, and we got professional and phone pics taken. The one that made me so happy was just as the sun was setting and the glow of me holding my huge belly, and then I had Mercy in my arms while posing in-front of a tree (overdone). I almost cried when it came time to do the family style photo, because this just... was to perfect. We stayed out for about 2 or 3 hours and then went home. We took so many, and I was looking through some of the ones Norman took himself and I was smiling the whole time. We got home that night and I looked at Instagram and saw Norman posted the one where I had Mercy in one arm and the other on my belly. "So, we got some maternity photos done today and this is one of my favorite ones. The glow on my beautiful wife while she's carrying my babies and my daughter is way to perfect." I scroll down and saw the one of Mercy standing on a stump of an old tree, and had her little arms around my belly and I had my hands on her hands. "Lost for words." - I scrolled to the one of me and Mercy in Norman's arms and Mingus with us. "One word: FAMILY" was what the caption said. I didn't know how marriage was going to work, in my opinion I don't want to assume any parental rights for my husband's son. He had a mother, who was one of the people I looked up to in the parenting department, and I didn't want to mess that up, by trying to 'adopt' him. He was a brother to my children, and I felt that was how it was going to say. My main thought was "How weird is it when I'm only a few years older, about 9 years older, and I was already his step mother." I just felt weird, because of that simple fact. I saw Norman posted another photo which was from the birthday party a few days ago with me and Helena talking and we both had a smile on our faces, because Mercy was doing something that we both found funny. "When the mothers of your children get along, and have no ill feelings towards each other."

Over the last couple weeks, being 5 months pregnant was weighing on me. It was starting to become a game of sorts, where is the most random place I would fall asleep. I would always end up playing with Mercy and then sort of fall asleep. Every morning would be the same thing, ever since we became parents our lives became a routine. I think the only thing that was a on-the-spot decision was when we had sex, I mean we'd go a few days or weeks without it and then BOOM. I was still sort of confused on how I became pregnant again, since it dwindled. I mean during that week we went without any protection, I remember having sex the night before and then waking up and I ended up waking Norman up because I wanted to have sex again. I mean, I wouldn't say anything happened between us but ever since I met Norman and we got into a relationship, I craved sex. But now, we were not even really doing anything. Even if our sex life was gone, I didn't regret any of my babies. I loved the idea of a little tiny human that made my life worth while. I cared more about what Mercy thought of me than how Norman thought of me. They say that when you find out you're pregnant your life stops, but it was the exact opposite with me.

I woke up one morning and was feeling tired beyond belief, but I got up and played with Mercy. I loved seeing her smile, that smile made my life complete. That was until I heard Norman needed to leave to present at this awards show, and I didn't want to see my daughter cry. "Listen, I'll be on the next plane home afterwards. I should be back quick." I had Mercy in my arms crying. "Okay." I looked down at my daughter, and tried to shush her to sleep. "I'm going to-" - "Listen, I don't need a baby sitter. Give me one chance to do this on my own for at-least this one time." - "If you want, I can't stop you." - "Thank you. We're adults, and we need to act like adults. We're going to be okay. If you want I can call every hour and check in." It was a 2 almost 3 day thing and I was wondering if I was going to be able to be a 'single parent' for that long. I remember kissing Norman bye and Mercy latching onto him and saying "NO!" He handed her to me and I could see in his eyes how hard this was for him. "I promise after our son and daughter get here I will take 2 or 3 months off straight." I looked at him "You promise?" - "Of course." He went straight for my belly and kissed it. He said something to our babies about not coming into this world right now. I smiled and I took Mercy outside and let her wave goodbye, until Norman was out of eyesight. "Daddy?" I heard her say between gasping breathes. "Daddy had to work sweetie. You want to go play with your kitty?" She shook her head no. "Want to- umm you want mommy to redo your nails?" Again she shook her head. I carried her back inside and put her on the couch. She stayed latched onto me for about 20 minutes until she went and brought out some toys and played with them. I smiled, but inside my heart was broken. I felt like me and Norman were the most selfish parents on the planet, all because of what his job was. I didn't hate Norman at all for leaving, because I knew he was coming home and he cared about his family more than anything. Me and Mercy played together off an on throughout the day, until bedtime. I let her face time with her daddy before bed. Me and Norman talked for a little bit longer until we both were tired.  
Norman arrived home a few days later, and found me and Mercy snuggled up in the bed. I left a note for him saying that I made enough dinner lastnight and left his in the fridge. I was woke up by him crawling into bed next to us. "Hi..." I said as I yawned. I saw him smile and I let him hold our daughter. "Was she any trouble?" - "She had her moments." I kept yawning. I looked at him with her, and without thinking I blurted out "We need to talk." I saw him look at me "Okay?" - "I've been thinking, we're fixing to have 2 brand new members of our family and I'm wondering how it is going to work when you're gone. I don't want to hire help. I'm not asking you to let stuff go because you feel you need to be here." He just looked at me "What do you want to do?" - "I've been thinking, and I think I'm just going to stay here. I mean I'll go with you to Georgia a few times, but it's not going to be an every single trip thing. But, I've got another idea." He looked at me. "I'm willing to live in Georgia until filming gets finished. It was a struggle just doing it with Mercy. 1 Toddler and 2 Infants... we're not going to be able to do it that easy." - "You're right. She had trouble adjusting with us taking her every where. I'm going to stand by you, with whatever your choice is." - "I don't want you to miss out, you missed out on some things, thankfully you were here when she said her first words, and took her first steps. These might be our last babies, and I don't want you to miss out on anything." We stayed in bed until Mercy wanted to get up. I got up with Norman and helped him with our daughter. "Do you want to take her to the park?" I asked sort of innocently. "She needs to run. She's stuck in this apartment all the day, and that's part of the reason why I like taking her to visit you on set, because she gets to run." I bundled her up, since it was sort of chilly and put on a cute sweater that highlighted my belly, and a cute pair of leggings. I carried her until she saw the park and then started trying to get out of my arms. I stood there and watched her just be a kid and then she came up to me and wanted me to swing her. We stayed for a little while, and then went home. Mercy stayed in my arms until bedtime. I just watched as her little head rested on my shoulder and as she slept. I went and was fixing to put her in her crib when Norman stopped me. "No. She's fine. Plus in a few months, we won't be able to just share the bed with the three of us. Let's celebrate." I sort of smiled, and handed her to him so he could hold her. "Remember how she used to just sleep on a pillow? Like she used to be that small?" - "Remember when we first brought her home and we fought over her?" We just kept talking about the past year and all the stuff that Mercy went through. "It made our relationship stronger, I mean we still sort of argue but she's made us both come back." I looked at him and looked around and just decided to ask him, "Do you miss how sexually active we were before we had her?" He looked at me and then down at her "No, because I'm proud to be a father. Sex isn't that important to me, I mean I do enjoy it, I mean we're fantastic together. I love sex with you, but it's not that important. Why do you?" - "No. I'm to the point of being completely exhausted, and sex isn't #1 on my list. My children are #1." - "Why did you ask me?" I looked at him "I just was wondering how you felt. I mean every time we're alone we seem to have sex, and each time seems few and far between. I just want to keep you satisfied." - "You keep me more than satisfied. Do I keep you-" I just kissed him. "Yes. Extremely. Hell look at where we are." I motioned to Mercy and my enormous belly. We went to sleep until Mercy woke us up because Eye sort of stepped on her.

I woke up the next morning, I managed to get out of bed and walk in on Mercy playing with her daddy. "Mommy" she said as she looked up from her toys. She showed me a new stuffed animal she got "LOOK! LOOK!" I looked at the Pinkie Pie stuffed animal that she had in her hands. "Awe that's cute sweetie. Did your daddy buy you a new toy?" I eyed Norman. "YES!" Her eyes lit up. I went into the bedroom, and found the Rainbow Dash that Norman bought me and looked at Mercy "Look. You and Mommy have ponies!" I saw her grab for it and handed it to her. I let her play with whatever she wanted. I didn't want her to just play with girly items, but whatever she wanted. I had to admit when I found out I was pregnant with a girl, I went and just grabbed as many cute and frilly outfits as I could, but I gravitated away when she was growing up. I played with her for a few hours, until she took a nap. "You okay?" I heard Norman ask as I put Mercy in her crib. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" - "I'm just wondering about you, and what's going on in your brain." - "Yeah?" I smirked. I grabbed his hand and walked into the bedroom. He looked at me weird and I timidly said "I don't want to have sex. I just want to snuggle. You and me. Come on?" We crawled into bed and snuggled up together and he put his hand on my belly and I looked up at him and smiled. I heard him ask. "So, we're agreed on their names?" - "You sure? I mean they are going to carry this with them until they die." I asked as I looked up at him. - "Yes. I love their names, Levi Connor and Faith Nicole. Perfect."


	21. Time For Miracles

December was already here, and in the middle of everything we had Mercy getting into boxes while we were trying to decorate for Christmas. We got some stuff put up and then went straight into the nursery to put the final touches on the stuff our son and daughter would need. "Are we going to do the same thing we did last time?" I heard Norman say looking at me. "What?" I asked. "Last time we had the crib in our room until about 2 months old. Do you still want to do that?" I looked at him and said "Yes. I just want to be close to them." He got up and kissed me and I just smiled "What was that for?" He shrugged "Because it has been a while since I kissed you." I blushed. After he pulled away Mercy got upset. "Daddy!" I heard her say as she went and climbed into his arms. Every time he kissed me he had to give our daughter a kiss.

It was about the 3rd me and Norman were playing with Mercy and I heard a knock on the door, and Norman got out of the floor and opened the door and was surprised. "Mom! I didn't know you were coming." He looked over his shoulder at me and Mercy. "I managed to keep a secret from you." I said to him with a smile. I tried to get off the couch, and after a few seconds successfully did. "No honey it's fine, you can stay where you are." I heard her say to me with a worried look. "No, it's okay." I smiled back at her. "Woah you've gotten so big." I saw her reach for Mercy who was in my arms. "Woah look at you." I saw her motion to my enormous belly. "You look like you're about to pop." - "Thanks, I feel that way. I think after these two we're done for babies for a long time." I saw her reach her hand out but stop, "Do you mind if I-" - "Of course not. I mean you're their grandmother. Go ahead." I watched the smile never leave her face. "I can understand why you two are going to hold off it has to be painful having two sets of feet kick you especially if they kick like they are right now." - "I think that's our son." - "Have you both figured out names?" - "We've decided on Faith for our daughter and Levi for our son." I heard Norman say while he had his arm wrapped around my waist. "Both beautiful names." I saw Mercy start playing with Marianne's hair. "Yeah... she loves hair." I said "That's no problem." I saw her look at her granddaughter. "So, how have you been?" I heard her ask as she readjusted Mercy. "I'm been pretty good. Just pregnant beyond belief. Being a mother and basically a wife." - "So how was your first year?" - "Stressful, but rewarding. I didn't think I could love somebody as much as I love her. I mean my life changed when I found out I was pregnant, but you know it was for the good. Plus she's a mini me and just gives me so much joy and hope." - "From what Norman's said about you on the phone and plus the pictures he's sent it looks like you've done a great job. For a woman your age to just jump into a job like motherhood, you've done great." I smiled "Mothering instincts I guess." - "I guess so." I looked at my husband coming out of the bedroom. "Your bags are in your room." I saw him hug his mother and just smiled. I saw Mercy reach out to me and I held her until she started messing with my belly. "Mommy?" - "What sweetie?" - "Out?" I looked at her "You want your brother and sister to come out?" I saw her shake her head. "They'll be out soon enough. You have to give them time honey." I remembered how Mercy was a few days late, and then Faith and Levi would be born early. That night when we went to bed I felt the hard kicks coming from what I believed was my son, and I was uncomfortable. I placed Mercy down on the bed asleep. "What's wrong?" I heard Norman ask me as he crawled in next to me. "Levi keeps kicking way to hard." I saw his face drop and he went to rub my belly. We laid down together and I said "Urgh this sucks." - "Hey you were the one who wanted a boy." I heard him laugh. "Shut up." I sarcastically said as I kissed him.

I woke up the next morning, and checked my Instagram to just see what was going on and I saw a photo from Norman which had his coffee cup and it had little things in it. "So.. my daughter is trying to create dinosaurs in my coffee. #Fatherhood #DaddysGirl" I smiled to my self. I got out of bed and walked into the living room, with a hand placed on stomach. I saw Norman look over from talking to his mom and look at me. I smiled at them, and went and sat down. "Are you okay?" I heard Norman ask me. "Yeah, I'm just hurting. These two are more work than she was."

The weekend that Norman's mom came to visit was also weekend for a local convention. I didn't really feel like making every single trip, so I slept in and could choose when I wanted to go. I was asleep until I heard Norman looking for clothes and then I found out he wasn't in the bed. I looked at him and practically begged him to come back to bed. "Babe you know I can't." I laid there and just pouted at him. "Come on don't be angry." I looked at him and pouted even more. "I can keep this up all day." I said to him. I saw him go and pull out clothes. "Which shirt?" I saw him lay two shirts in front of me. "This one." I said as I pointed towards one. I watched him put it on and I saw him put his pants on and I bit my lip. He must have noticed because I saw a look on his face. I blushed. He kissed me and rubbed my belly. "Stay put you two." I watched as he kissed both sides of my belly. I saw him leave the room and walk in and kiss Mercy goodbye. I laid back down and tried to sleep more before Mercy woke up. "You sure you can handle both of them?" I heard Norman ask. "I took care of you didn't I? They won't be a problem." I heard Norman then go into detail about what normally happens. "Both of them are going to cry. No way around it. I'm leaving you guys these VIP 3 DAY PASSES. If at any time you want to come out. Mercy will probably want to, she likes seeing all the costumes and such." I heard the door close, and then was woke back up and looked at my phone and saw the time was about 12:00. I sat up in bed, and heard Marianne sound shocked. "Umm he's not here." I then heard my name mentioned and I heard her say "She's asleep. I can't wait her up, she's pregnant and needs her sleep." I heard her sound upset after telling said person everything, which was the truth. I walked out of the bedroom, and walked over to the front door and staring at me was my worst enemies. "Woah look who is awake." I heard my ex friend say as she stared me down. "My... look how pregnant you are." - "Excuse my language, but what the fuck are you two doing here?" I practically yelled. - "We came to make it right." I saw them with wine in their hands. "Came to make it right? You can keep that cheap stuff." I said with a smirk. I went to go close the door and they stopped me. "Um.. we are honestly sorry. You know what alcohol does to people, I mean your daughter was a result of one of yours and Norman's drunken nights." I was so disgusted at this point, I looked at them and said "How dare you. I love my kids. I love my husband. No matter what you say, my reply is going to be NO. Kindly get the hell of my door step before I have to have you removed." I slammed the door in their faces and locked it and grabbed my phone and called Norman and told him about it. "You need to go get a protection order. I think the police said when they came out if we needed one, we could get one." I hung up the phone after a while and sat there. I tried not to cry while I sat on the couch. "I don't want to intrude on your lives, but can I ask what they did?" - "They almost had sex in our bed. Completely sober. They tried to act drunk but they were sober." I saw her eyes drop to the floor. "I.. I don't know what to say about that." - "Nothing you can say, I don't care what they say about me and Norman, but my kids are off limits. I will fight til my dying breath for them." I heard a cry come from another room and ran, the best I could, and picked Mercy up. "Where's Daddy?" I heard her ask crying. "Working. You want to go visit him?" I got her dressed and changed my clothes and off to the convention we were. I was surprised to see how busy it was. I went up to Norman's line and got into line and Mercy wanted to get out of my arms, but I held onto her tight. "Sweetie no. You'll get lost and mommy doesn't want you lost." I locked eyes with Sean and he must have went over and told Norman something because they were escorting us to the table. "She wanted to come say Hi." I said as I sat down next to him. We must have got there at the right time because it was almost break time, and we excused ourselves and went to see what was going to be for lunch. Mercy was running all around, and I looked at Norman as he put his hands on my belly. "What do these two want?" I shrugged. It seemed like every time I ate something it didn't agree with me and I ended up getting sick. I had different cravings and sometimes I would have one craving and get the food and not want to even touch it. I saw Sean sit down next to Marianne and look at Norman and said "This must be your wonderful mother right Reedus?" I saw Norman start introducing everybody. I looked over and saw Mercy playing on the floor. I loved just watching her be a normal kid, and not have to focus on the struggles of fame all day long. I saw Sean blow bubbles for Mercy and just watched her laugh and smile. We ate lunch and hurried back out and sat down and watched everybody come up to Norman and just be in awe. I noticed Marianne passed Mercy off to Sean who was holding her while autographing stuff and I saw her just looking at him smiling. I looked over after a while and she had her head on the table asleep. I quickly took a picture of her "So... I think it's safe to say that 'Uncle Sean' is the baby whisper."

On Sunday I got up and got dressed and got Mercy dressed and we went to go see her daddy, we were enjoying everybody who came up to us to talk. I sat there quietly and just smiled at everybody, and made light conversation. We had been there a few hours and everything was going off without a problem, and Norman had to go do photo otps and I wanted to stay at the table. I kissed him and my eyes watched him walk away. Mercy was asleep in my arms and fans were pouring into the line and some of the people in the front started talking to me, and asking me every day questions, like when was I due, what I was having, how my day was, etc. I replied the best I could, and several people started getting out their phones to take pictures and I didn't mind it until I noticed some trying to get pictures of Mercy. I grabbed a blanket and hid her face and they put their phones away. I noticed Sean in the next booth looking at me and noticing I was uncomfortable with the attention. He excused himself and offered to let me sit at his booth until Norman came back, which I turned down. I heard a big commotion happening and looked around to see what was going on. I noticed some security guards escorting a woman out and I heard her just apologizing. After the rest of the photo otps a security guard escorted me to where Norman was and I looked at him with a worried look. "What happened?" I asked quietly. I heard him explain how in the middle of all the photo otps he got bit. I opened my mouth because I didn't believe what I was hearing, and then he explained what had happened. "What the hell?" I had a disgusted look on my face. "I'm okay. They said whenever I'm ready I can go back out there." I put one hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes, for about a minute and then I kissed him. We sat there for a few minutes and then he picked Mercy up out of my arms and held her while we were escorted to our booth. Norman carried on with the convention, afterwards he went and got medical attention.

I woke up in the morning a few days afterwards to the sound of Mercy coming into the bedroom. "Mommy? Mommy?" I opened my eyes, and saw her standing there in front of me. "What sweetie?" I looked at her and she handed me something, and pointed to her belly. "Eat. Hungry." I looked at her and asked "You're hungry?" - "Yes." I saw her pointing to the can of stuff in my hand and read the label, I didn't even have to read the label I saw the cat picture on it. "You sure you want this?" I saw her grab for it. "No. You can't have this." I got out of bed and picked her up, which was harder then it used to be. I carried her into the kitchen and saw Norman sitting on the couch. "Mercy brought me this and said she was hungry." I handed him the can. He looked at Mercy with a look. "You don't want this. You want to feed your kitties?" I saw him go and open the can and Mercy grabbed for it and put half in one dish and half in the other one. I saw both cats run straight for the dishes. "What do you want to eat sweetie?" Norman picked her out of my arms, after noticing how I was struggling.

On the 10th I woke up and had a weird feeling, just one of surprise. I didn't know what was about to happen, but it would change my entire world. It was a few hours before dusk, and Norman looked at me and I looked at him with a weird look. I could tell there was something different in his eyes. "Where's Mercy?" I asked him. "Oh my mom is baby sitting, making up for lost time." He said. I looked at him and he pulled me into him and asked if I would like to go out to dinner. I looked at the floor and back up at him and whispered "Sure." I smiled at him. "Go put your dress on." I heard him say after he kissed me. - "What about your mom and Mercy?" - "Oh they'll meet us there." I walked into the bedroom and saw that he already had an outfit laid out for me. I looked at the lingerie and my dress. I quietly slipped out of my current clothing and slipped the fresh clothing on. I walked out and saw Norman all dressed up in his tux and I smiled. We walked out and I felt strange, just like something was going to happen. I saw Norman pull up in front of this building and tell me "I'm going to make sure our reservations are right. Can you wait here?" I shuffled in my seat, and looked at him. "Sure." I saw him put his hand on my belly, and he looked at me "They seem happy." I kept smiling. I saw him get out of the car and waited and waited. I got impatient, and decided to get out of the car and opened the doors and I burst into tears. I saw Norman standing at the alter looking at me. I saw a face I hadn't seen in a while, when my best friend in the whole entire world was the person who would officiate our wedding. I saw Mercy run up to me in this pretty frilly pink dress. I bent down as far as I could to pick her up, and she looked at me and started wiping my tears away. I saw Norman's mom offer to take her from me and I handed her over. All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder... and saw Mingus standing there. "Umm my dad chose me to walk you down the aisle." I wiped my eyes, and started to walk down the aisle until I met my, what would be in a few minutes husband. I couldn't stop from crying. As we said our vows I felt the two little sets of feet kick me. I smiled and when I heard the words "I do" slip out of both of our lips, and saw my hands sort of shake when I placed the ring on my husband's finger. I zoned out until I heard "I now pronounce you man and wife." exit my friend's mouth. I cried throughout the whole event. I didn't know about any of this, but I loved it. When I saw the cake it was beautiful. "You did all of this yourself?" I asked my husband. "Well, you've dropped little hints." I smiled. I noticed everybody had their phones out to take photos of our wedding, and Norman took a picture of the two of us with our rings on my overly pregnant belly. "This happened a few minutes ago. #Married #MarriedToMyBestFriend" Sean posted a photo of 'The Kiss' - "My brother got married to his beautiful bride. I'm so happy for them. Glad I got to attend this special moment with them." I caught up with my best friend and her boyfriend, who informed me that they were in the process of adopting a child together. They showed me the 2 year old little boy with Down Syndrome they were adopting. I was so happy, that she was finally going to get to be a mother. I found out they were going to continue to live in Florida. "Are you guys going to make a trip up here to see these two?" - "Of course. When are you due again?" - "Sometime around the middle of March." - "You look like you're fixing to pop any day now, you know twins are normally early right?" I shook my head. "We're hoping that they are on time, because Norman has to leave for a cruise next month. I really don't need to be in labor by myself." - "So how's Mercy?" I heard her boyfriend ask. "She's fantastic. Loving life. Actually hold on." I nudged Norman to go get Mercy and she had a hold of his hand and was walking with her daddy. "Woah she's gotten so big!" - "She turned 1 last month and it was the hardest thing I've ever went through." I saw both of them smile. "Wait until you survive a year with that little boy and you'll understand." I saw Mercy reach her arms up to my belly, and her daddy picked her up and let her rub my belly. "I guess I don't have to ask how she's adjusting." - "The first kick she felt scared her, but I think she likes it. If they aren't kicking she'll do something to wake them up." I saw both of them looking at her, "Do you guys want to feel?" I saw their eyes light up. "I think this is our son." I let them feel the harder kicks. I let them feel the lighter kicks "This is our daughter." We talked about our lives so far for a while, and it felt like old times. Our wedding wasn't what you would call traditional, I mean we did some of the stuff people normally did at weddings, but not by the book. Her boyfriend contacted Norman a month or so before, and when I heard the request I agreed. He asked if when we got married when the bouquet was to be tossed if I would just hand it to her. I couldn't say no. It came that time, but I decided to make it a bit cuter. I handed it to Mercy and pointed and let her walk up and give them to her, then her boyfriend came in and got down on one knee. I saw Norman grab his phone and take a quick photo. "So my wife's friend's boyfriend came to me with a request and our daughter helped with her 2nd wedding proposal. #SpreadingOurJoy #ProposalAtAWedding #FriendsHelpFriends."

We managed to get to the apartment without injuring each other. I felt weird, like this was a totally different man, who I was going to bed with. Norman carried me into the apartment and into the bedroom. I started to unbutton his shirt and he looked at me "Are you sure about this?" I heard him whisper. "100%" I let him lift the dress off of me. I felt so out of place with my overly pregnant belly. "God, you're so beautiful." I heard him say. "Thank you." I said timidly. He helped me down onto the bed, and went to kissing me passionately. "I love you." I heard him whisper, "I love you too." I whispered into his ear. "Ready?" I heard him ask. "YES!" I said to him. I looked into his eyes as he eased into me. It was slow to start out, and then we both got into it, and he started picking up speed. I bit his lip. I heard the phone vibrate on the nightstand, but Norman didn't even grab for it. We kept a little pace going until I almost climaxed, but didn't. "Norm- I wanna try." I saw him ease off me, and I climbed on top of him shortly after moving my hips a few times I got off of him and pulled him on top of me and he eased into me again and I was in pure heaven. We both swore under our breath. I didn't realize until halfway through that he had me right up against the headboard. I felt my climax hit, and began crying. Norman was fixing to pull out until I put my hand on his lower back " 't" I uttered through my tears. He kept thrusting into me, but went and started to dig through the bedside table. "Norman, I'm already pregnant plus it's already to late." - "Not looking for that." I heard him grunt. He must have found what he was looking for because he pulled something out. My eyes went towards what he had in his hand. I felt him pull out of me, and I heard the buzzing sound and I felt the cool metal go into me. "Norm- I don't want this I want you." I tried to pull his hand away, and I saw his devilish smile. "You sure you don't want this?" I felt the intensity of the small device increase, and I was in heaven. "Please... I need you-" I felt the sensation leave, but then I felt myself expanding again, but this time it was a different size. Norman had went carefully and had the device inside me along with his massive manhood. I kept swearing under my breath. He kept thrusting into me with some grunts, and I kept moaning in his ear "Yes. Yes. Fuck right there!" I felt my head sort of hit the headboard of our bed, and I must have let a "Ouch" out cause Norman sort of pulled me closer to him. He kept up the speed he was already working at. We both had our bodies wrapped up together, as best we could with my belly in the way. I think this was the first time in a long time we actually had sex for this long as far as pregnancy goes. I climaxed and then after a few more quick thrusts my husband climaxed also. I saw him remove the device and wipe it off on the sheets and just smile at me. "That.. That was nice." I heard him pant out. "It was." I looked at him. "Are you okay?" I heard him ask me as he looked at me as I was wiping my tears away. "Yeah, I've never had an orgasm that powerful." I looked at all the marks I left on his body and then he looked at my body and started pointing out all the marks he left. "So, why do you have that?" I heard him ask me in a low tone. - "Um.. because my husband was gone all the time and I need to get myself off every once in a while?" I said in a low tone. - "So, do you want to try that again?" I heard him ask as I curled up in his arms. I looked up into his eyes and said "YES! OF COURSE. That was the best orgasm I've ever had." I heard him sort of laugh at me. "If that's what my wife wants, that's what my wife will get." He had me wrapped up in his arms and I guess we both fell asleep. I saw the bedroom door open slightly and then close and a small "Ooops" leave someone's mouth. Norman had me wrapped up in his arms, and I just stayed there in my husband's arms until the next morning. I woke up about 3 in the morning and had to use the bathroom, and when I started moving Norman's grip tightened on me. "Where are you going?" I heard him ask as I tried to escape. "Bathroom." He let go of me and I did what I had to do, and then I came back and crawled back into his arms. An hour or so later he went to go do something, and I pleaded with him to stay with me. "Baby I'm coming back." I kept my hands wrapped around his arm. I let go after a while. During each of my pregnancies I was clingy. I guess because I didn't want to lose Norman? Hormones? I don't really know. He came back and crawled back into bed with me, and I went and laid my head on his chest. "Can I-" I saw him look at me with a questionably look on his face. "What?" For whatever reason during my first pregnancy I got to sleep by putting my thumb in my mouth, don't ask me why I just did. It calmed me down I guess, and made me feel safe. I saw Norman's hand reach my lips and I opened my mouth slightly and he put the tip in my mouth and I held onto his hand. He really didn't understand why I did it, but I explained it just helped me sleep. A few minutes later I felt a kiss on the top of my head and fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning to some cute pajamas laid out for me and some nice bubble bath and other stuff with a note. "I figured you could use this after lastnight (which was amazing). I love you with all of my heart. I let you sleep in because I figured that you would need it. I love you." I grabbed my phone and quickly took a picture of all the stuff and captioned it "My darling HUSBAND left this for me. He's a keeper for sure." I scrolled down through my feed and saw a photo of me asleep on Norman's chest with his thumb in my mouth. "So does anybody else's pregnant wife do this? My wife has done it with both pregnancies. It's so cute." I scrolled through the comments and some of them were cute, others were really X rated. "She sleeps like a baby, that means you've fucked and married a child. You're sick." - "So she likes stuff in her mouth? I'll put something in that mouth and not my thumb. ;)" - "Dude, why are you letting her suck on your finger when she could be sucking on your dick. If she was my girl I'd have her sucking on mine all night long." It kept going from there, like I said most were cute, but like always some people had to ruin stuff. I quietly got into the bath tub and filled it up with water and added the bubbles and relaxed. After a while I got out and dressed and looked in the mirror. I noticed a mark on my collar bone and just smiled. During each sexual encounter we've ever had Norman has always left it there, if it went away we would have sex and I'd have it back on my body again.

On 15th I had another ultrasound appointment and was excited because Marianne was going to actually be here. We got to the doctors office and waited and they called us back. Everything checked out and then it was time to see our babies. I watched the screen and saw my son and daughter on the screen and smiled. I looked over and saw Norman's mom smiling. We finished and got our pictures, and I handed a few to Maureen. We set up our next appointment, Jan 10th because we wanted to make sure it was going to be okay for Norman to travel.

We had Mingus staying with us for a few days, and I was almost asleep, and I heard him say "Quit" and I heard Mercy start having a fit. I laid there for a few seconds and it kept going on, and I ended up getting up and checking on her and saw she wouldn't let her brother have the controller. "What's going on?" - "I've been trying to give her this controller but she wants that one." I saw her yank the one that Mingus had in his hand and I walked over and took it out of her hand and said "No ma'am you don't jerk stuff out of other people's hands." I picked her up and she started hitting me and I took her outside of the room and into her room and said "You're fixing to get put in time out." She sort of stopped, and I carried her out into the living room and Norman was sitting down and I handed her to him and said "She's being a brat today." - "What did she do?" - "Well, she kept jerking the controller out of Mingus' hand and then when I told her she was about to get put in time out, she started hitting me." He looked at her and noticed her eyes were all puffy. "Someone is sleepy." I heard him say to her. He went and brought her a sippy cup of milk and let her drink that, and then she fell asleep in his arms an hour later. I looked at her, and just smiled and I guess I sort of started crying because I heard Marianne ask me "Are you okay?" I shook my head and just said "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to handle 2 babies and sort of put her on the back burner. She's been my life for a year, and I love her." - "You're not going to put her on the back burner, she's going to be a major part of your life no matter what." I was scared because I didn't feel it was right what me and Norman did, even if Mercy was happy and all lovey with my belly now. I still felt horrible about it.

On the 24th I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I sat up in the bed really suddenly, and started to wake Norman up. "What's wrong?!" I saw him sit up and reach out to touch me. "Umm... I have a sharp pain.." I stood up and started to see if maybe if I walk a bit if the pain would go away but it didn't and all of a sudden I felt it... my water broke and I just cried. "No. This isn't happening! No!" I held onto Norman and just cried. "Shh.. It's going to be okay." I looked at him "No it isn't! What if something goes wrong?! I can't be in labor right now, I'm only 6 months pregnant." I heard the door open and saw Marianne standing in the doorway, and I noticed Norman sort of let go of the death grip he had on me, and turn towards his mom who was just staring at me. "Is she okay?" I heard her ask in a low tone. " .Broke." I managed to choke out as I sat down on the bed. Everybody's face looked right at me. I started crying out in pain as a contraction hit. "Come on." I saw Norman grab the bags and help me to the car. The whole way to the hospital was chaos, I was screaming in pain and Mercy was crying because she knew something was happening. I got to the hospital and into a room and I felt the need to push, and started until the doctor checked and told me I was no where near time to push. I laid in the bed and cried to myself, until Mercy wrapped her arms around me. "Don't cry mommy." I sniffled as she said that to me. "You ready to meet your brother and sister?" - "YES!" I heard her say enthusiastically. I noticed Norman was taking a picture of me holding our daughter with the caption "So.. our bundles of joy are going to be possible Christmas presents. My lovely wife is in labor and our daughter is trying to keep mommy happy." I was in pain, but some how my daughter made the pain seem less.. well painful. I had a hold of Norman's hand the whole time and he knew each time a contraction hit because I squeezed really hard. After a while they checked again and I was still at the same place I was when I got to the hospital. I let Norman have Mercy, and he went and took her to go get something from the cafe which was located a long ways from our room. I saw Norman's mom sitting in the chair next to the bed and I tried to keep everything PG, but sometimes a word slipped out. I must have ended up falling asleep, because I laid there with my eyes shut and heard Norman whisper "How long has she been asleep?" I opened my eyes when another contraction hit. "Ma'am we need you to stop pushing." I heard the doctor say over and over. I pushed and pushed, I couldn't stop. I asked Norman how long I had been there. "Considering your water broke at about 7:30 and it's about 10:30 now." - "That long?!" I screamed out. "Calm down honey. We're on their time not ours." - "You don't fucking know how bad this hurts." I screamed at him. I laid there and watched Mercy play with her grandma and smiled. Norman reached his hand onto my belly, and kissed me. "I'm sorry for all of this." I heard him say. "No, it's not all your fault, I had just as much to do with this." He just looked at me and I sort of smiled "What?" - "We've got 3 kids. You're fixing to have twins. You're amazing." I saw him smile. I just held and squeezed his hand until about 2:00 in the morning. I had the doctor come in and check me again and I still wasn't where I needed to be but I kept pushing and the doctor saw the sheets had blood on them. The checked the babies and noticed something was wrong, and opted for a c-section. I looked at Norman with a look of worry. They took me into the operating room and prepped everything, and then I heard them say something and I didn't hear a cry. Norman was all worried. "What's wrong with my baby?!" I screamed. I looked at the doctor who was holding my daughter and he was trying to get her to breathe. My instinct was to reach out, but he was far away, and then I heard it. The first cry. I saw the doctor put her in the little crib and then I heard a loud second cry. "You did it!" I heard Norman say as he kissed my head. I later learned that my daughter had her cord wrapped around her neck when they cut me open and that's why she couldn't breathe on her own.

I had my son in my arms and Norman had our daughter in his. They wanted to give the 4 of us some alone time before visitors. I heard the nurse come in and ask if we were ready to have visitors and Norman looked at me, and I shook my head. I saw Mercy run through the door and up to her daddy and looked at her sister in his arms and just smile so big. "This is your brand new sister." I heard my husband whisper. Meanwhile Marianne walked over to me, and looked at her brand new grandson and I saw her look at Norman and laugh "He looks just like you when you were a baby." I saw Norman sort of blush and mouth the word "Mom." I laughed. "You want to hold him?" I offered and saw her smile as she reached for him. Norman took a picture of his mom holding our brand new son "My mom with my son." I looked at Mercy trying to hold her sister. I reached my arms out to hold her and my brand new daughter. I had Mercy beside me and Faith in my arms and I saw Mercy sort of poke at her. She woke her up and she started crying. "I'm sorry." I heard her whisper over and over and she brushed the little bit of hair that her sister had on her head. I saw Mercy just lean over and kiss her sister on the nose. Norman tried to capture the moment without showing our daughter's face. "My daughter woke her sister up and this was her reaction." I loved it, because it showed my daughters and even included me smiling at the cute moment. I heard the nurse come in and make sure everything was okay. "Whenever you're ready I can bring the nurse in to teach you how to nurse both of them." I heard her say before she left. I looked down at my 3 babies. "Do you like your new siblings?" I whispered to my daughter. I saw her shake her head. I was smiling so big. My family was complete. I noticed Norman took a picture of both of our newborns and posted a photo of their hands next to each other. "Today, Dec 25th, after about 9 hours of labor my son and daughter came into the world. They may have been born premature, but they are healthy. Mom is doing great, still in a little bit of pain. Please respect our privacy at this joyful time in our lives." I saw Norman pick up his phone and right away I knew who it was. "Yes, we'd love to meet with you guys. Feel free we're in room 15. Bye." - "Sean?" I asked. - "Yeah he's got his whole family and he wants to see our newest editions." I smiled. I heard a knock on the door and saw Sean sort of walk in sort of sneaking stance. "Hi." I heard him whisper. I watched as Mercy saw Charlie and she got off the bed and walked over and hugged him. I saw her try to get him to play with the toys we brought. "So, who do we have here?" I saw him pick up our daughter. "Faith Nicole Reedus." I said as I smiled. He was holding her, and Lauren put a small bag on the table. "How you feeling?" I heard her whisper. "I'm sore, more so than I was the first time around." Sean quietly passed Faith into his wife's arms. "Who is this handsome young man?" I heard him ask. "Look at the name tag." I heard Norman whisper. "Oh my- you guys didn't." I saw his wife sort of look at him weird. "Levi CONNOR Reedus?" I heard him say in a loud tone. "We decided it sounded alright to us." I heard Norman say. - "So does your son know yet?" I heard Sean ask. "I called him. I think his mom is on her way here." - "How long are you going to be here?" I heard Lauren ask me. - "I think they said 2 or 3 days. Faith was born with her cord wrapped around her neck and they had to try to get her to breathe. She's okay, but they want to monitor all 3 of us since they were born 3 months early." I saw her eyes drop to the baby in her arms. I noticed Mercy and Charlie playing together on the floor. I heard a knock on the door and saw the nurse walk in and offer to show me how to nurse both babies. Everybody left the room except for Mercy and Charlie who were busy playing in a corner. My daughter latched on and started nursing right away, on the other hand my son sort of had trouble. - "It's natural for one to just latch on and one to not want to or have trouble. If you have trouble you could bottle feed one, and try to switch it up halfway through." After a while, I let everybody back into the room. I handed Norman one baby and his mom the other baby. "Well we're going to let you guys relax. We're visiting for a week or two so..." I thanked them both for coming and saw Mercy say goodbye. I ended up falling asleep, and waking up to a screaming baby. "Wha-What's wrong?!" I looked over and my daughter crying. I noticed Norman was holding her. "Shh." He was trying to calm her down. "I just changed her." I offered to hold her and grabbed the sheet and covered myself as I nursed her. "She was hungry." I whispered. I looked over at my son just sleeping away. "He hasn't cried?" I asked shocked. "He did a little, but he fell back asleep." I looked over at his hand which had part of the blanket clinched in his little hand. I looked down at my side, which had Mercy laying next to me on the bed. I brushed her hair out of her face, and just smiled. "I have 3 wonderful kids now. Thank you." I looked at Norman, and quietly turned to Marianne and said "I have to thank you also for giving me such a wonderful husband and father to my kids. Thank you." I saw her smile. "You've given me 3 wonderful grandbabies between the two of you, so thank you." I saw Norman grab my hand and squeeze it. Faith fell asleep and I just held her and watched her sleep. I heard a knock on the door, and saw Helena stick her head in and Mingus quietly file in behind her. "Awe." We introduced them to our newest editions. The moment I handed Mingus his little brother was a moment I'll remember forever, he was just in amazement. I noticed Norman took a picture, knowing that we captured every moment we possibly could.

I stayed in the hospital for about 2 days, and everything was fine and they were going to release me. I looked down at my little bundled of joy tucked safely into their blankets. I saw my husband put them into their car seats, and then they both woke up. I saw him try and calm them both down. "What's wrong?" I asked worried. "I think they are just in a different environment, plus this cold air probably isn't helping." I turned and when I did I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. "You can't do that for a while, remember? I've got this. Don't worry." I heard him say. I just looked at Mercy in her carseat "Mommy?" I heard come out of her mouth. "Yes sweetie?" I saw her reach for my hand. I saw her look at her brother crying and she went and tried to calm him down. We finally got them to calm down, and headed home to start our memories. We arrived home and I couldn't keep my hands off of them both. I saw Mercy just stand in front of me and stomp her feet. "I wanna hold them!" I heard her say in an angry tone. "Okay sweetie come here." I put her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her and showed her how to hold her brother. I saw her look up at me with a smile on her face. "She sort of looks like daddy." I heard her say in a low tone. I smiled "Yeah he kinda does." I looked at Faith who was asleep right next to me. First thing that went through my mind when I saw her face was that she could pass as Mercy's twin. I saw Norman's mom walk over and just smile at me and Mercy. "Do you mind if I-" I saw her motion towards my side. "Of course not." I saw her pick her up and just smile. "Did you hear what Mercy told me?" I asked her. "No?" - I sort of laughed "She said that her brother looks just like her daddy." I saw her smile again. "Well, I'm telling you he looks just like Norman when he was a baby." I just smiled at her "I believe it." I saw Norman walk into the room and I just smiled at him. "Your daughter says her brother looks just like you." I saw Norman sit down next to me and look at the baby boy asleep in my arms. I let him hold our son and he just looked down at him and over at me. That was one thing I loved about my husband, we communicated by using our eyes when we couldn't find the words. I had my phone in my purse which was sitting near me on the floor and I took a picture of my husband with our son and Mercy looking at him. "We're home with our bundles of joys. My husband is already in love. Mercy is curious about her new siblings." I quickly took a picture of Norman's mom with our daughter. "My mother-in-law is loving her new grandchildren." We both made sure to not reveal their precious faces until we were ready. All of a sudden both of them started crying, and we changed them but they still kept crying. I motioned towards the bedroom, and Norman carried both babies into the bedroom and I followed. "Do you need my help?" I heard him ask. "Maybe can you just-" He sat behind me on the bed and I opened my top and bra and held one baby while he held the other one and put his head on my shoulder. "You know last pregnancy I wouldn't have let you do this." I laughed while he kissed my cheek. "I know. But you know me, I'm not going to look at this in any sexual way." I looked at him and just smiled. We sat there together until they both fell asleep. I fixed my clothes and carried my daughter out into the living room, and put her into her swing and buckled her in and Norman put our son into his swing and buckled him in and we just sat there. I looked at the presents under the tree and motioned to Norman and he started to pull the presents out and saw him give one to Mercy and she sat there and opened it and saw her eyes light up when she saw the play-doh play set. I noticed a few little tiny ones, and Norman told me he got some presents for Faith and Levi. I smiled, he was such a thoughtful dad and husband. I quickly went into the bedroom, and made sure that everything was in place and came out with a cute scrap book type thing, that me and Norman created so that his mom would always have photos of our kids. "Umm.. we made this. I know it's not much, but.." I started opening it and showed her the empty photo covers, we knew we wouldn't um get you photos of Levi and Faith before now, but we left room so you can put these empty ones so when we give you some, you can put them inside. "This.. This is so thoughtful. Thank you." I looked over at Mercy pushing her siblings, in their swings.

Later that night me and Norman changed our newest babies, and fed them, and we put them down on our bed to get pictures of them, for our friends who couldn't be with us. I noticed their lil hands were close together and I took a photo of their lil hands and posted it "Home with our newest bundles of joy. I'd like to introduce you to Levi Connor Reedus and Faith Nicole Reedus. Both of them have completed my heart, along with our daughter Mercy Monroe Reedus." I saw Norman take a picture of the two of them laying on the bed asleep. I saw Marianne walk in and just smile at the both of us basking over what we created. We asked if anything was wrong and she shook her head no. "Is it okay if Mercy sleeps in my room? I think she's pretty much stuck there." I picked up one of the babies and my husband picked up the other and we walked in and saw Mercy sprawled out in the floor with the suitcases open. I almost burst out laughing. "I'm.. I'm sorry. She-" - "No don't be. I know how curious kids are and its cute." I saw Norman pass Faith to his mom and pick Mercy up and put her on the bed. "She tends to spread out all over the bed. If she starts to be a problem wake one of us up and we'll put her in our bed." I saw her hug and kiss her newest grandbabies goodnight and me and Norman walked back into our room. We kissed both of them goodnight and placed them in their cribs. Me and Norman climbed into bed and I felt him wrap his arms around me. The next morning I woke up to Faith and Levi's lil hands and feet, on Instagram with the caption "Due to unforeseen circumstances I will NOT be able to attend the cruise set for Jan. I feel bad canceling this close, but I will be sending my love and I will have tons of goodies able for every single one of you who bought tickets. Plus, I will honor ANY photo or autograph tickets for a future convention. I'll post something more into detail about how that is going to work. I feel I have a duty to my wife and my kids, who were born 3 months premature and need around the clock care. As many of you may know my wonderful mother is willing to spend her personal time helping out, but I feel it is my duty as a father/husband to step up to the plate." I got out of bed and went up to Norman and asked if we could talk and he put our son in his swing and buckled him in and followed me to the bedroom. "What's up?" - "I've been thinking, if you want to go on this cruise you should be able to go." He just looked at me, and at the floor and then back up at me. "I need to be here. You've just had 2 newborns and 1 toddler I need to be here. If people feel like I'm a horrible person for being a parent and doing what a parent is supposed to do so be it. They'd talk even if I went. So I'm having them talk about me for a good reason."


	22. Tug of War

I watched as my two newest babies turned 2 months, and like with Mercy, I knew there was nothing I could do. I watched as Mercy interacted with her little brother and sister. I loved watching as she had so much love to give even after a year. She always was eager to know what was going on. Even if me or her daddy had one of them in our arms, she was always in our laps looking at us and making sure we weren't hurting them.

I had my son and daughter in my arms, and I was fixing to give them a bath until I heard Mercy fussing. "What's wrong sweetie." I asked as I saw Norman trying to wash our daughter's hair. "Um.. She likes to try to do that herself." I said to him. "Really?" I shook my head. "She's done that for a while." - "She's just 1 and already trying to wash her own hair?" I heard him ask me. "She's a quick learner." I saw her crying. "But... she does have to have help to not let the shampoo get into her eyes." I stood there and watched him finish up. "You're learning." I said to him with a smile. "Well, you're the one that's been doing most of this." I saw him look down at the little boy and girl in my arms. "They've been fed. I bathed them before. They should be ready for their cuddles." He picked both of them up out of my arms and smiled down at them. "Hi babies. I'm your daddy. I love you." I went and helped Mercy get ready for bed. "Where are you sleeping tonight?" I asked her as I tried to get her shirt on. "Here." I saw her lay down in her own bed. "You sure?" I asked with a curious look on my face. "Maybe." I saw her just try to act cute. I woke up several times during the night to take care of my 3 babies. Between Faith and Levi not being able to tell me what they needed to Mercy needing a potty break. Norman tried to help and I will admit sometimes he got up before I did and helped figure out what they needed.

A few days later I woke up and started to nurse Faith and Levi and had to stop halfway through and switch to a bottle. "Still sore?" I heard Norman ask as he sat down next to me and offered to help feed our son. "Yeah." I sighed. "They didn't hurt this bad with Mercy. I mean they were sore, but this is different. It hurts even to pump." - "If you want we can switch to formula." I heard him say as he continued feeding our son. "No. I have milk, and I want all my children to have the same type of milk, unless they need something else." I watched as Faith finished up her bottle and just smiled at her. I wanted more than anything to make my kids proud of me. I placed both of my children into their swings and just sat there feeling out of place, with all of my kids down for a nap. "Come on." I said as I grabbed my husband's hand and walked him into our bedroom. "I swear if you get 'hard' during any point of this..." I trailed off. "I promise you I won't." I heard as I lifted up my shirt. "Well they certainly are swollen." I heard him say to me. "Maybe you should go to the doctor." I heard him tell me. "Maybe it could be due to how often I have to nurse them? I mean with Mercy I could switch. I guess I could do bottle feeds for a while." I heard noises in Mercy's room and found her digging through her toys to find some to bring out and play with. "Hi sweetie." I said as I stood in the doorway. She walked over and handed me a toy. She wasn't her normal cheerful self, I noticed that right away. I picked her up and felt her forehead and she was warm. "Norman?" I asked my husband. "Yeah?" I saw him look over after making sure our son and daughter were okay. "She's burning up." I looked worried. "She's still got some of that stuff we bought her before in the cabinet I think." I saw him bring out a bottle that had just a little bit of medicine in it. "I'm going to run to the store and get her some more before she needs it." I heard him say and kissed him and saw him kiss our daughter. As soon as he got his keys and was fixing to go out the door Mercy started screaming. "Do you want to go to?" I heard him ask Mercy. I saw her shake her head still crying. "Okay." I saw him go get her jacket and shoes and picked her up. "Say goodbye to your mommy." I heard him tell her. I watched as they went out the door. "Bye Baby." I said as I saw her wave to me. I was on the floor playing with Faith and Levi until I heard the door open and saw Norman carrying our daughter who was asleep. "I gave her some when I got into the car and she fell asleep a little bit after we left." He looked at the floor and saw Faith and Levi on their blankets. "I figured they needed to get out of those swings for a while." He handed me our daughter and I just held onto her and just looked at her sleep. I looked over at Norman on the floor with our son and daughter laying with them. I saw my son start smiling. "You're a really good dad you know that?" I said low enough to not wake Mercy up.

We quickly made dinner and ate. Mercy got up a little bit and played. She seemed to be feeling a little better. She stayed with me until bedtime. "Come on sweetie it's bedtime." I said as I went and put her pajamas on. I gave her some more medicine and she curled up in her blankie and reached her little arms out for me. "Come here." I said as I crawled into bed and snuggled her. Everybody was in bed, and I saw Norman walk in with a smile on his face. "Has her fever went down any?" I heard him whisper as he kissed her forehead. "A little. She's not burning up like she was all day long. I just hope they don't catch it." I motioned to Faith and Levi who were asleep in their cribs. I saw him walk over and give them goodnight kisses. I just waited for my husband to get back to bed. "So... Valentine's Day is coming up any thoughts on what you'd like?" I heard him ask me. "Not really. I pretty much have every thing I'd like already. You?" I saw him look at Mercy. "Same. I mean I don't know what else I could ask for." I looked at him and bit my lip nervously ".. If you wanted to um.. well you know.. we could try I mean I'm still a little sore, but.." - "No honey. We can do that at a later date unless you wanted." - "I just feel like a horrible wife for keeping you waiting. Like we should be having sex." - "We have 3 kids. We're going to be scrambling to even have alone time. Plus Mercy isn't in a crib anymore which means she could walk in on us.. Plus Faith and Levi cry and that kills the mood as we've learned." We both fell asleep with our arms wrapped around our daughter. I got woke up by Mercy screaming. I rolled over and saw her in her daddy's arms. "Shh.. It's okay daddy is here." - "What happened?" I yawned as I saw my daughter crying. "She just woke up. Should I give her some more of her medicine?" I heard my husband ask me. "I'll go get it." I got up and grabbed the bottle. "Here sweetie." I said as I put the spoon next to her mouth. She opened up and swallowed the liquid on the spoon. I was sitting down on the bed looking at her sort of falling asleep and then I heard my son start crying. "Mommy is here." I said as I picked him up. I started rocking him and then Mercy looked over at me and reached for him. "You want to see your sister?" I asked him. He kept crying even when Mercy was paying attention to him. I saw her just look at him laying on the bed. "I love you." I heard her tell him. I saw her reach her hand out and he put his hand in hers. I quickly grabbed my phone and took a picture. "So this happened. Brother and Sister Love. #MomentsILiveFor" After a while, they both fell asleep. I saw Norman take another picture of the both of them making sure not to get Levi's face in it. "My sick little girl and her baby brother asleep together." I put Levi back in his crib and made sure Faith was okay and then crawled back into bed. I saw Norman holding Mercy who had one hand wrapped in his hair and another pulling on the scruff of his chin. "I guess I won't ever get to do that again." I said to him sarcastically. "Well... aren't you jealous." I heard him say with a smile. I went and kissed him and kissed my daughter. "I love my perfect little family." I said as I curled up next to my husband. I woke back up and just looked over at my two love bugs asleep. I wanted to capture every single moment and took a picture of them together. "My sick little girl and her daddy." I sat there in bed and just watched the two of them sleep. I heard Faith stir in her sleep and picked her up and tried to make sure she didn't cry. I walked her over to the window and the moon light hit her face and she was looking right at me.

"Is this how you pictured your life?" I heard Norman ask as I put Mercy down for for a nap. "Not really. 3 kids by the time I was 25 and married to a man twice my age? Nope. But I wouldn't change it for the world." I said as I kissed him. "Really? You wouldn't change it?" I heard him ask as he wrapped his arms around me. "Not for anything. We get along great, and you love me for me and not just for sex. Plus if I wasn't with you, I wouldn't have my three beautiful children and a wonderfully sexy handsome husband." - "That's really what you think?" I saw him raise one eyebrow. "I'm with you forever. I always said if I got married, I wanted just that one marriage and if it didn't work out then that was it. With you... I don't think I'll have to worry about that."

Valentine's Day arrived and I wanted to do something special for my husband since it was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. I managed to get up early enough and grabbed my keys and left a note for my husband "Hey, I went to go pick up your Valentine's Day present. Sorry I waited til the last minute, but yeah I didn't want you being sneaky and find it. I'll make it up to you when I get home. Promise." I drove to the store, and went straight to the lingerie department. "Can I help you find something ma'am?" I heard someone ask me after I looked confused. "I'm just looking. Thanks." - "Okay if you need any help just ask." I saw the older woman say as she started putting clothes on racks. I pulled out my phone and called my best friend who I hoped would pick up and I wasn't bothering her. "Hey" I heard an exhausted voice on the other side of the phone. "Sorry did I-" - "No Owen is going strong this morning. Hold on. Dylan he's got something in his mouth." I sort of smiled. "Parenthood everything you would expect it to be?" I asked with a slight laugh. "Stressful. I can't imagine what you're dealing with a 1 year old and twins. I feel sorry for you." - "I'm okay. Mercy likes to help out a bunch, she can't do that much but you know it's the thought that counts. When they are in their swings she pushes them it's so cute." - "So what's up?" - "Umm well... I was trying to pick out a gift for Norman and I needed your opinion." - "Okay?" - "I'm going to text you some pictures and you tell me which he likes better?" - "Sure!" I started taking pictures of the lingerie sets I liked. "Sent them to you." I said. "Hmmm.. I like the black one. Hold on." I knew she was going to go get Dylan. "Dylan says the red one." I bit my lip. "I'll just get them both." I looked for my size and found one of each. I continued to shop and talking. "So when do we get to meet this Owen? We've seen pictures, but yeah." - "Well we were going to ask you guys that. We know you're busy all the time with 3 kids. Plus we don't want to intrude on your lives, plus Norman is supposed to go back to work in a few months right? He hasn't been killed off yet?" I sort of laughed. "I have no idea. Every time I saw a script he ripped it out of my hand. I only know episode names really. When he does go umm.. we were going to stay in Georgia until filming is done. I was thinking if you wanted to you guys could come spend a week or so with us. I'm sure Mercy would enjoy the company." - "Sounds like a plan. I can't wait to see those three little munchkins of yours. Are they okay?" I heard her ask. "They are fine. Faith's had some scares here or there but nothing major." - "What happened?" I heard her get really concerned. "Um she started breathing really weird a few weeks back. She's fine though." We talked a little bit longer until I got into the car and started it. "Hey girl I'm fixing to head home so I gotta let you go. Give Dylan and Owen hugs from me okay?" I smiled. "Of course and you do the same." I was about to hang up the phone when I heard "You're not planning on making baby #4 tonight are you?" followed by a giggle. "How can you even say that? Of course not. Goodness no. 3 babies is enough thank you."

I got home and put the bag under my shirt and carried it. "Hey honey." I said as I walked through the door with a smile on my face. "Hi Babe." I heard out of my husband's mouth. I picked up my daughter and looked around. "Where is Mercy?" - "Still asleep." - "You think you can hold down the fort for a while?" I heard him ask me. "Sure." I said as my daughter wrapped her tiny hand around my finger. "I guess we're a perfect couple waiting til the last minute to get gifts?" I saw him smile at me. "Love you." I sat there and put the new items I bought somewhere I knew Norman wouldn't find them. I just held both of my babies and waited. I saw Norman hurry in. I saw a bag in his hand and he handed me some flowers. "I saw these and thought of you." I blushed. I grabbed my phone and took a picture of them "First set of flowers from my HUSBAND. #LuckyGirl" I saw him put the bags on the floor. "I didn't know what to get you so.." I saw him pull out some random items out. "How much did you spend?" I exclaimed. "Oh just the right amount I think. I love to spoil my wife." I kept looking at him. Did he know what was going to happen tonight? Maybe? No? We played with Mercy until about dinner time. "Honey come here for a minute." I hurried to the bathroom and there were candles and it was perfect. "Relax while I get dinner started? Please?" I heard him ask me. "Of course." I kissed him before closing the door and stripping down. The water mixed with my tension was almost orgasmic. I stayed in until I felt I needed to get out. I put on the skimpy barely there lingerie and then put on a decent pajama set. I walked in and the table was set candles where lit. Just like a date night. "Happy Valentine's Day Baby." I heard him exclaim as I stood there. "Where are the kids?" I asked. "Oh they are asleep. Mercy didn't really sleep good lastnight." I smiled. This was perfect I thought. I took a picture of the table and captioned it "Date Night. #HappyValentinesDay #LoveMyHusband" We ate dinner than then I heard Norman say he was going to do the dishes away like always. I figured it was now or never. I quickly peeked into my kids' room and they were asleep. I hurried back to the bedroom and stripped down. "Norman?" I asked as I stood in the hallway and looked into the kitchen. "Yeah?" He stopped and looked at me. "Happy Valentines Day!" I said with a smile. He stopped everything and walked over to me and I felt his erection through his pants. "You.. You don't have to-" I heard him say as I stuck my hand into his pants. "Oh I don't have to? Your body seems to disagree. Come on." I said pulling him into the bedroom we barely made it due to our heated make out session. The brand new lingere I bought was ripped from Norman trying to get it off. "Wait!" I said. I started to pull his pants down and was met with his massive erection. I was already on my knees. "Bay-Baby you don't..." I started to stroke him and I brought my mouth towards his massive manhood. I ran the tip of my tongue around the head of his cock which had a hint of pre-cum. I kept up a pace until he grabbed my hair, and lightly pushed my head down to where he was entirely in my mouth. I would occasionally take him entirely out of my mouth and just look up at him. "More?" I put him entirely in my mouth and closed my lips. I had my mouth closed and I put both hands on the ground and I looked up at him and he gripped my head with both of his hands and started thrusting into me. "Ahh!" I heard him say through clinched teeth. I felt him fill my mouth up with his wonderful juice. This whole time I was getting off by my own hand and I felt my own juices leak all over my fingers. He jerked my hand up and licked every single spot. I looked up at him like a little puppy. "You're fucking amazing baby. I love it when you suck me." He went and brushed his finger across my lip. "Missed some." I heard him say and I twisted my tongue around his finger. He put me on the bed and started ripping off my barely there clothes. "Norman.. Come on these were $25.00." - "These?" - "There's a red one in the bag." I saw him sit up and ease off me. I watched him go grab a condom and put it on. "Can't have another munchkin running around can we?" I heard him lightly laugh. "Damn right." I said. "I'm going to go easy on you since it's been a while." I shook my head. He carefully slid into me as I whimpered. "You okay?" I shook my head again. "Fast-Faster" I managed to choke out. "As you wish." I heard my husband say as he picked up speed and slammed into me. I was almost at my point of exploding and he pulled out of me. "Get up." I heard him growl. I tried to stand up but my legs were mushy. I managed to stand with his help and he got on the bed and pulled me on top of him. I put my hands on his chest and went crazy. I was riding him and I could tell he was about to cum and I slowed down to the point I was just on top of him. "Keep... Keep going." I started going slow and then quickly got back to my pace as before. I was going crazy and swinging my head back as I rode him and I felt his hands on each side of my hips and he started moving me up and down and thrusting into me and kept hitting my most sensitive spot. "Oh..My... Fuck... Shit.." We both exclaimed as we hit our highs and I felt my juices flow down my legs. I climbed off of him and curled up in his arms. "So.. did you like your present?" I asked him. "Do you even have to ask?" I saw him smile. We laid there and listened to the breathing coming from the nursery. I looked at Norman with a curious look. "Do.. you umm.. remember our first time?" I asked. "Of course. You were nervous. It was cute." I blushed. "You, asked me if I was... if it was my first time." I added. "Well when I entered you even slow you started crying like it was." - "Only because.." He looked down at me "Because of what?" I looked away from him "Your size. I hadn't been with someone as big as you." I blushed. "Hmm. That's sexy." I heard him whisper into my ear. "I had only been with 2 guys.. the jackass I gave myself to and my dick of an ex." He kept looking at me "Fuck no wonder you were so much fun that first night." I lightly hit his chest. "That night in that hotel.. ended here." I looked at him. "Remember when you invited me to that hotel after the bar?" I asked him "Of course." I heard whimpering from the nursery and listened for a while and it stopped. "You didn't try anything. Why?" I asked. "We were both drunk off our asses." I laughed "That doesn't stop a lot of men." - "Well it stops me." I laid my head on his chest. "I wish I could go back to that day." I heard him say as he lightly kissed me. "Yeah?" I looked up at him curious. "I have something to show you." I said as I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my photos. I showed him the picture of us, that very night. He picked up his phone and showed me the picture he took. "We took pictures of each other.." I uttered as I kissed him. "I feel like a dirty old man saying this but.." I looked up into his eyes. "That night.. Just us spending how ever much time we did together I liked you." I smiled at him. "That doesn't make you a dirty old man. Truth is I liked you to." - "How could you love someone like me? I'm old enough to be your dad. You fell for me and I fell for you." - "You're old enough to be my dad, but you're not and you're the dad to my 3 beautiful kids." I saw him look at me "I stole your youth." I shook my head. "That's not true." - "Yeah it is. I took everything from you. I even took your family from you." I looked at him "Listen to me. You didn't take anything from me. My family practically abandoned me after I said I spent the night with you. I even told them nothing happened. They thought it was gross and weird." He looked at me with a little pain in his eyes. "You need to reconnect with them. Imagine if something happened to them and you didn't get to clear things up. What if your parents died and thought you hated them? I lost my dad and let me tell you.. you don't want to leave bad stuff in the air." I watched as he sort of teared up talking about his dad. "You're right." I said as I just looked into thin air. Right after I said that I heard crying. I went to get up and pulled on the thin panties and Norman's shirt. "Just like old times." I heard him say as I left the room. "Except we don't get to share a bottle of Jack. I said with a smirk." I walked out the door and saw Mercy yank her hand out of her sister's crib. I saw it was a pacifer. "Scared?" I heard her say. "Yeah you probably scared her but it's okay." I put the pacifer in Faith's mouth and she calmed down. I put Mercy back into her bed and she was going to sleep again. "I love you babies." I whispered as I left the room. I walked back in and Norman was still up. "Everything okay?" I heard him ask me. "Yeah apparently Faith's pacifier fell out and Mercy was trying to put it back in and woke her up." - "She's such a good sister." I heard him say as he pulled me into him. I looked up at him and bit my lip. "Would you want another one?" I just blurted out. "Maybe. Not any time soon though. Why do you?" I looked down and then up at him. "Maybe. Not now obviously. I think we messed up by getting pregnant again so quick." I frowned. "Why do you say that?" I heard him ask me. "Just doesn't seem right." I couldn't really put my finger on why it felt wrong. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me. "You're an amazing mother. Plus we make cute babies." I felt his scruff brush my cheek. "I have an idea." I said as I smiled. "We should post our first photos. You post yours and write something cheesy and I do the same thing." I grabbed my phone and put a nice filter on it put a nice caption on it and posted it. Norman did the same thing. "I love you Mr. Reedus." I said with a smirk as I kissed him. "I love you Mrs. Reedus." I got goosebumps when he said that. I laid my head down on the pillow "Might want to put your pants back on in-case Mercy comes in first thing in the morning." - "What if I wanted a repeat of tonight in the morning?" I heard him ask. "I don't think we're going to get that lucky." - "Can you just. I want to hold you while you sleep and feel your skin on mine." I took the shirt off and looked down and saw the marks on my boobs. I just curled up into my husband's arms and fell asleep. Norman got up and took care of our kids when they cried. He came back into bed and started kissing and sucking on my neck. "Stop." I moaned. "But I need this." I felt his manhood in my hand. "Just.. jerk me off and we'll call it even." He said into my ear. "I have another idea." I said with an evil smile. "I wrapped one hand around him and placed one of his hands in-between my legs and he knew what I was getting at. I ultimately couldn't stand it much more. He ripped his fingers out of me and told me to stop and I knew he wasn't close. "I said STOP." I heard him say as I let go and he went and grabbed another condom. "We might have to make this quick." I sighed and he laid me down and climbed on top of me and started kissing all over my chest and I went straight to his neck and looked at him as I started to lightly bite him, knowing that he got bit earlier I looked at him. "Go ahead." I heard him give me permission and I kept lightly biting him. I was almost to my high when I heard a noise come from the nursery and I started seeing the door open slightly and Norman quickly climbed off me. "Mommy!" I heard her say as I held her long enough for Norman to hurry to the bathroom. "Its okay sweetie. Shh." Norman went and quickly grabbed some new boxers and pajama pants. Me and him switched places and I grabbed some new pajamas and underwear. She was almost asleep and I saw Norman look at me "Do you think she saw anything?" - "I don't think so." I felt shame. "She's asleep." I whispered. "What the hell are we going to do if she saw something and asks?" I heard him ask me. "We tell her that umm mommy and daddy were wrestling with each other." I shrugged my shoulders. I laid down and watched as Norman laid next to me.

As soon as my head hit the pillow that night I was out. I woke up the next morning and checked my Instagram account and noticed a picture of me sleeping on Norman's account "When your wife finally gets a good night sleep and she's super adorable doing it." I got out of the bed and walked into the living room where Mercy was playing with her brother and sister the best she could. I saw Norman cooking lunch, and I guess he didn't notice I was up and I went up the quietest I could and I wrapped my arms around him just as he was turning around with what I now know was grease from bacon and some of it splashed on my bare leg. I started screaming from the pain. "SHIT!" I heard him say as he quickly put the pan back on the stove. "Come here." He helped me get to the couch. "I'm going to go get some bandages." I saw him run down the hallway. I saw Mercy come up to me and see me trying to stop the pain. "Mommy?!" I heard her ask and I knew she was worried. "Mommy is okay baby." I said to her as I saw my husband come back. I watched every single movement he made. "I was trying to be cute. I guess I picked the wrong time." I half laughed. I saw him look up at me. "This is going to leave one hell of a scar." I saw him look down at me. I bit my lip. "I have 3 kids and tattoos and still I'm crying because of this pain." Norman put something on it and I started saying "FU-" I saw Mercy standing there and didn't finish. "After a few minutes I saw my husband back away. "You should be good. You're going to be sore for a while, but you'll live." I smiled at him. He kissed me before taking the stuff back to where he kept it. "My little accident prone cutie." I heard him say to me with a smile. In the middle of everything Faith and Levi started screaming. We tried to calm them down the best we could and we sat there and rocked both of them. Then Norman's phone went off and he picked it up and said "Hi Mom." I smiled in his direction. "Oh we're fine." I heard him say over the high pitched cries. I picked my son out of his arms and asked Mercy to go grab her blankie that was in the floor for me. "Thank you sweetie." I threw it over the top of me and fixed my shirt and started nursing my babies. I saw Norman look over and me and continue to talk to his mom. "Yeah, we're fine. All of our babies are perfectly healthy. Well, we had an emergency this morning but we're fine. Well, a certain wife thought it would be cute to sneak up behind a certain husband while he was cooking breakfast and ended up getting seriously burned. No she's fine." I saw him pass the phone to me. "Hello!" I said in a cheerful tone. "No, I'm fine. My wonderful husband fixed me up good." I saw Mercy reach for the phone. "Someone wants to talk to you." I passed the phone to my daughter and watched her go and start talking about her toys and her brother and sister." I saw Norman move the blanket and smile at me. "Sorry, I couldn't think of anything else." - "No honey, don't be sorry." I saw Mercy walk back over and handed the phone back to her daddy. "Mommy?" I saw her reach for me. "Yes sweetie?" I asked her. I saw her point to her brother and sister still nursing. "They are eating. You did the same thing when you were their age." - "Hungry?" I saw her ask as she pointed to them. "Yep. Hungry. Are you hungry?" I asked her. I saw her shake her head. "When your daddy gets off the phone I'll ask him to make you something okay?" I saw her shake her head again. "Okay Mom. I'll call you later. I'll send you some photos soon." Norman looked at me. "Our daughter wants some food." I said as I looked down at my two babies asleep on my chest. I put my son and daughter on the couch and fixed my shirt and attempted to get up. "No stay put." I heard my husband say. "Okay... umm I have to go to the bathroom." I said as I stood up. "Okay but afterwards sit back down." I did as I was told and just held onto my son and daughter on the couch with my leg propped up. "Mommy loves you." I must have fallen asleep because I got woke up by Mercy touching my leg. "Hey sweetie." I said as I looked at her. "Hungry." I heard her say. "Okay let mommy get up." I started to get up, and my jaw dropped when I saw the table set. "Hi honey." I heard as Norman was putting some food down on the table. "Hi." I said lightly blushing and smiling. "I figured after the day you had.. you needed a nice meal." He said with a smirk. We sat down to dinner and afterwards I started to clear the table off. "I've got this why don't you go and help the kids get ready for bed." My husband said as he grabbed the plates off the table. I went and got a wash cloth and cleaned Faith and Levi off and changed them into new pajamas. I heard them start crying and I started loving on them. "Baby!" I heard Mercy shout over and over. "Yep. Babies." I laid them both on the bed and Mercy climbed up and started playing with them. I saw Levi start smiling when Mercy was playing with the little bit of hair he had. "Smiling!" I saw her look at me with a smile on her face. Norman came and looked at me sitting on the bed and Mercy smiling. "Daddy!" I saw her get off the bed and run up to him. "Hi Sweetpea." I hear him say as he walked her over to the bed. "He smiled at me Daddy!" I heard her say with a huge smile. "That's cause he knows you're his big sister. He loves you." I saw Norman sit down on the bed and just play with our kids. After a few minutes Faith was asleep and Levi was quick to follow. I placed them both in their cribs and walked back over to the bed. I could read my husband like a book. "What's wrong?" I asked as I sat down next to him. "Nothing." - "Bull. Tell me. Did I do something wrong? If you're beating yourself up because of me getting burned." - "It's not that.." - "Then what is it." I said as I went up and kissed his cheek. "I.. I have a premiere to go to and I have to fly to LA to attend but I don't want to just leave you here alone for just maybe 1 or 2 days." I felt my heart drop. I don't know why but I started crying. "What's wrong?" I heard him ask me as he wrapped one arm around me and tried to hold Mercy who was asleep in the other. "Noth-Nothing." I said as I sniffled. "I know something is wrong." He said concerned. "It's not that I don't want to be alone with our kids.. it's just the first time since we got married we would be apart."

Norman had to leave for LA and then after that London. I was on my own which I was worried about but I think I managed to do a great job when Norman was here. I mean I could manage everything, but that was with him beside me. I saw Norman pack his bags and I burst out crying. "What's wrong?" - "I'm just going to miss you." I said between gasps. "I'm going to miss you too." He looked down at Mercy who was attached to his leg and screaming, and then over at Faith and Levi who were almost asleep. He put his bags down and picked Mercy up and just hugged her like it was his last time to hug her. He always cried when he had to leave. "I'm going to be home just as soon as I can. If at any time you feel you can't do this call me and I'll drop everything." I looked at him "No. I'm going to do this and I'll be a better person. I.. You need to go and do your job. I feel if you keep dropping out so much that you won't be able to get a decent role." - "Don't worry about me." I heard him say with a smile. We started to have to do the "sneak away" thing. Norman would get her interested in playing and then sneak away. I knew he felt bad but what else could he do. Mercy took a little nap and I ended up falling asleep with her. I woke up to her screaming and then I heard something break. "Mercy?!" I looked around and saw that there was a broken glass on the floor. My oldest was screaming "Da-Da" I quickly ran over and snatched her up and made sure she didn't have any cuts. "Shh.. You want to see if your Daddy will pick up the phone?" I asked her. I dialed and waited for a pick up. "Do you need me to come home?" I heard him ask in a panicked voice. "No actually..." Mercy snatched the phone from me. They both talked for an hour until she gave the phone back to me. I watched as she went and got some stuffed animals and then brought them out. I noticed that one was missing, this little teddy bear that she got when she was born. I thought I knew where it was but wasn't sure. "Where's your teddy?" I asked her. "Daddy." I heard her say with a smile. For the longest time me and her hid that bear in Norman's suitcase. I didn't know she hid it without me this time. I started playing with her and then my other two babies needed something. "Mommy!" I heard Mercy say as she tried to hand me and toy and wanted me to play. "Okay hold on." I told her. I was trying to juggle 3 kids and Mercy was getting cranky. I finally got everybody happy and me and Mercy were playing for what seemed like a few hours and Mercy got mad and just hit me in the face. She went back and tried to do it again and I grabbed her little hand and told her "No Ma'am. You do not hit people." She ran off to her room crying. I just sat down and looked at my son and daughter in my arms looking at me. "Mommy is trying." I whispered to them. I got up and went and checked on Mercy crying. "Sweetie?" I walked closer to her and she started to move away from me. "Mommy is sorry she raised her voice." - "I WANT DADDY!" I heard her just scream at me over and over. "Daddy should be home in a few days." My voice broke when I said that. "Daddy no loves me." I heard her said to me crying. "Honey that isn't true. Daddy loves you. He just has to work." I watched her just curl up in my lap and wrap her arms around my neck. "Daddy loves me?" I saw her still frown. "Yes. Daddy loves you. He just has to go work so he can keep you safe." I looked around the room at all the stuff Norman bought. I remember when this room was another guest bedroom, and now it's filled with a toddler bed and 2 cribs and tons of toys. "Mommy?" I heard her ask me. "Yes?" - "I'm sorry for hitting you." I smiled. "Baby it's okay. Mommy forgives you but you shouldn't hit people. It's not nice." I saw her look down. I got up and looked at Mercy "What do you want to eat tonight?" I saw her look at me "Chicken Nuggets!" I heard her say with a smile. I put her sister and brother down in their swings and turned on the Sprout Channel and let her watch cartoons while I cooked. I finished cooking and set the plate down in front of Mercy. "Mommy?" - "Yes?" - "Can I have a juice box? Pwease?" I smiled and went and got her one and opened it for her. "Thank you." I saw her smile at me. Later that night Norman got to video chat with our children and Mercy's eyes lit up when she saw her daddy. She started telling him what happened.

Norman was supposed to come home a few days later and I was on the verge of a breakdown. I was up for what I could only guess was 48 hours straight. I cried all the time, but I stepped up and did what a mother was supposed to do. The night Norman was scheduled to come home I had a blanket and pillows on the floor in the living room and had some snacks and just waited until my children fell asleep. Soon after I remember curled up with my babies and fell asleep. I was so exhausted that I didn't even notice my husband coming through the door.

I woke up the next morning and looked around and noticed I was in the bed. I picked up my phone and flipped through my Instagram feed to find a picture of me passed out on the floor with Faith and Levi tucked under my arms protectively and Mercy laying across my neck and Levi had his little fist up to my mouth. "Came home to find this. My adorable family is what keeps me going." I noticed that Norman placed his usual censors, aka cat faces, over our newest babies faces. Then I scrolled further and saw a video of me and Norman and we were having an argument of sorts.

Norman: You're sleepy. Go to bed.

Me: I'm...Not...Sleep..Sleepy. *passes out on pillow*

Norman: *holds me* ..Yeah you're not sleepy. *Kisses*

I busted out laughing.


	23. Hard Times Come Easy

Me and Norman ultimately started to grow apart. I was starting to think that maybe all the stuff everybody was telling me was true. I started to turn to online searches about being a single parent because that's what I felt like. I was reading something and Mercy came over to me and asked me "Mommy? Don't be sad." I looked at her still crying and just hugged her. "Nothing you can do about why mommy is sad." - "Where's Daddy?" I heard her ask me still half asleep. "Work." I saw her eyes swell up and she just started hugging me. "Daddy works a lot." I heard her say in a low whisper. "I know baby. Believe me I know." I sat there and watched Mercy color and my phone started to vibrate and I just let it. I finally checked and saw I had about 5 missed calls from my husband. "Honey do you want to talk to your daddy?" I asked Mercy who looked up from coloring and shook her head no. I quietly put the phone down on the table. I felt my heart drop. I picked up the phone and called Norman and he picked up the phone and asked if something happened. We both talked for a while and then Mercy grabbed the phone. She started telling him all the stuff she did. After a while she gave me the phone back and I just looked at her cute little face "Umm Norman when you get home... we need to talk." I heard him become worried. I stayed up late researching single parenting. I mean I feel that way already, so why not think about the future. "Mommy?" I heard my oldest ask me while wiping her eyes. "Yes sweetie?" I looked at her. "Sleepy?" - "You want me to go to sleepy with you?" I asked her. "Pwease." I put down everything and picked her up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. I walked her over to the cribs where her brother and sister were fast asleep. I gave them a quick kiss and started crying. I crawled into bed and had Mercy wrapped up next to me. "You know mommy AND daddy love you very much don't you?" I asked her. "Yes..." I heard her say with a yawn.

Norman came home and I managed to choke down emotions. Watching him play with our kids brought me so much joy. Later that night after all of our babies went to bed, me and my husband had a talk. "What's wrong?" I heard Norman ask me while trying to snuggle up to me and I kept moving away from him. "What's wrong?" I heard him ask again. "Norman... I don't know if I can continue to do this." I started crying my eyes out. "What do you mean? Do what?" I heard him ask me with a worried look on his face. "This. Whatever the hell this is." I said a little bit more louder than I meant to. "You're divorcing me? Do you want me to divorce you?" I heard him say shocked. I just looked down at the floor. "How long have you felt this way?" I heard him ask while he put his head in his hands. "I don't know if I want a divorce just yet. I mean we always said before any important choices we would try to work out our problems. I... I... Just..." - "I thought we were perfect? What happened?" I heard him ask looking at me worried. "Mercy... She... She asks me every single time you're gone why you have to leave. The last time you did, she looked into my eyes and said 'Daddy doesn't love me' Do you know how bad that fucking hurt? I had to tell her "Yes Daddy loves you." What the fuck was I supposed to do?!" I looked at him fixing to cry. "So all this is because I'm gone most of the time?" I just looked at him with a look on my face. "I don't want my kids asking that." I saw him just look at me and almost cry. "What can I do?" - "First: Tell our babies that you love them. Second: Try to figure out how to show it, and no buying them things isn't what I mean. Third: Just help me out. I'm not asking you to give up your career. I'm asking when you're fixing to leave you try to put it into words our kids can understand." I just looked at him crying. "Ye-Yeah..." I heard him gasp out. "I know we were going to be tagging along with you this year, but we made a choice to create another life and we got double that. I'm not pissed about it, because I love my kids. Now you can be pissed all you want-" I saw him get angry "Why the fuck would I hate my kids? You think I want to be away from them? Hell I almost missed our daughter's first steps and words. Don't tell me I'm not a good parent." - "I'm not saying that. I'm just-" I saw Mercy walk out and rub her eyes. "Daddy?" I saw Norman open his arms and Mercy walked towards him. "I love you." I heard him whisper in her ear. "I know Daddy." I saw her start playing with his hair.

A few days later, I came up to Norman with a question. "Can I ask you something?" I asked him timidly. "Sure." I saw him glance up from playing with Mercy on the floor. I brought over the books that we made for each of our babies. "What do you need?" I heard him ask me as I was looking at the memories. "I was wondering if you could design a tattoo with all 3 of our babies feet." I started chewing on my lip. "You want ME to design this for you?" I heard him asked shocked. "Yeah. If you could somehow have their names inside that would be awesome." I saw his eyes light up. "I think I can do that." I saw the smile on his face. "I just figured..." I pointed to his arm where he had his son's name tattooed. "I want to celebrate my kids lives. Always keep a part of them with me, and especially when they were little." - "I'll see what I can come up with." I went and picked up Faith and Levi from their cribs and they were cooing at me. "Hi babies." I said as I looked down at them with a smile. "Mommy!" Mercy said as she ran over to me and pulled on my shirt. "I know you want to see your brother and sister hold on sweetie." I laid them both down on the couch and Mercy crawled up and started loving on them. I smiled at the fact that she wasn't being mean to them. Mercy tried to ask me if we were going on a trip. "You want to go on the trip with your Daddy?" I asked her and she shook her head and I looked over at Norman and he shook his head. "Yeah sweetie. We're going when your Daddy needs to go to work." I saw Mercy start getting excited. I saw her point to her brother and sister. "Yep they are going to." She got excited again.

A few days later we heard a knock on the door and I saw Mercy run up and try to open it. I looked at Norman and he went and opened the door. I heard Mercy scream and looked over and saw her in her brother's arms smiling. I looked down at Levi with his tiny little hand wrapped around my finger. I saw Norman walk back and then I heard Helena say something to me and I turned around. "They're getting so big." I smiled and shook my head. "They are 3 months." I said as Levi tighten his little grip on my finger. "Do you want to hold Faith?" I asked casually. I unbuckled her from the swing. "How have you been?" I heard her ask me. "Pretty good. We're hanging in there." I said with a smile. I was struggling internally to not ask her the question I had. I looked at Levi in my arms and saw him try to smile at me. I ultimately didn't ask the question I was going to ask, because I felt the need to not bother others with my relationship issues. Later on that night Mingus was in his room with Mercy and Faith and Levi were asleep in their cribs. Me and Norman were sitting close together watching a movie and for some reason I just climbed into his lap and straddled him. "Baby what are you-" I heard him ask me before I kissed him. "We can't do this right now or here." I heard him tell me. I kept kissing him and went to his neck. I intertwined our fingers and he started to kiss me back. We were making out when all of a sudden I heard Mercy run into the room screaming. "Shit" both of us said under our breath.

A few days later I was getting ready for bed and Norman called me into his 'office' as you could call it. I walked in slowly and he pulled out a piece of paper. "Is this what you envisioned?" I heard him ask as I looked down at the small design. "Perfect!" I said as I kissed him. "You know you're going to have to stop nursing to get this done right?" - "Yep. Plus I also have to not be pregnant." I said with an eyebrow raised. - "That to." I felt his arms go to my sides. "Of course me talking about pregnancy gets you excited." I said with a laugh. "Does not." I heard Norman laugh. I looked down at his pajama pants. "I beg to differ. Come on and let me help you with that before our kids wake up." Me and Norman ended up having sex and curled up together and stayed that way until the morning when Mercy jumped on the bed. "Get up! Get up!" I heard her say as I rolled my eyes. I ended up sitting up and remembered what happened the night before. "Okay honey." I hugged her with the sheet between us just long enough for Norman to grab some clothes and change. "Alright kiddo. Let your mommy up so she can get ready to play with you." I heard him say as he came back into the room. I quickly grabbed some clothes and went to shower. I came out dressed in one of Norman's shirts and a pair of pajama pants. "Feel better?" I heard him ask me. "Extremely." I said with a smile.

A few days later I was laying in bed when I saw Norman's phone light up, and glanced at the clock and saw it was about 2:30 in the morning. I tried to shift around in his arms due to the events of the previous night. I pulled up the text message that said "Hey baby, I missed you lastnight. I know you're probably with your wife, but I miss being around you. I don't know why you stay with her, she's such a push over. I miss your arms around me and your mouth all over my body..." I continued to read and my heart sank. I continued to read until I got to "Love Jessica" I looked over at Norman who was asleep and I chose to do something that I wouldn't have done... I smacked him. "Ahh. What the fuck. You bitch." I heard him say in a loud tone. I cried more. "Who the hell is Jessica?!" I screamed at him. "Who? I don't know a Jessica." I just scrunched up my face. "Why the fuck is she texting your fucking phone saying she misses the way you fuck her? Huh?" I showed him the text message. "... I don't know who this is. Shit you women always get so up tight about everything." I heard him say. I got out of the bed and slipped on some clothes and looked right into his eyes and yanked my wedding and engagement rings off and threw them on the bed. "Wait. I didn't mean that." I heard him say as I walked into our kids rooms. I walked out and I saw him follow me. "Just leave me the fuck alone Norman." - "Come on sweetheart I'm sorry. I was just.." - "You were what? Dreaming of fucking her and I woke you up?" - "You know that you're the only woman for me. Hell I wouldn't be with you if I didn't love you." - "Why did you say I overreacted like you did? You've never called me a bitch unless it was during sex." - "I overreacted. I'm honestly sorry. I..." - "If something happened would you tell me?" I said with a stern look on my face. "Yes. Of course." I curled up on the couch. "Please come back to bed." I heard him ask me. "I'm good here." I said with a frown. "No you're not. I need you to be wrapped up in my arms." I shook my head no while crying. "Then let me sleep on the couch and you take the bed." I shook my head. "I'm a grown adult. I want to sleep on this couch... please don't argue with me anymore." I looked behind him and saw Mingus holding his sister. "Mommy?" I heard Mercy start crying.

Easter was a few days later, and Mercy was curled up in bed with me and her daddy. I heard cries from the nursery and jumped up and walked in and saw Mingus holding his brother who was crying up a storm. "What's wrong?" I asked him with a sleepy tone. "I just wanted to play with him and he started crying. I'm sorry for waking you up." I reached my arms out and he placed his little brother in my arms. I started to change him and he still was crying, so I grabbed a bottle and he calmed down shortly after that. "He just needed his diaper changed and a bottle." I said with a smile as I handed him back. I looked over at Faith who was waking up and surprisingly she didn't cry. I picked her up and just cuddled her. "Are you and my dad going to divorce?" I heard Mingus ask me timidly. "We're trying to work though our issues. I'm sorry you had to hear that." I looked down at the floor. "It's Okay." I heard him say with a sad tone. "If you want you can sit in the floor and put him in your lap. That's how I play with them." I said with a smile on my face. After a while both babies fell asleep and I decided to go back to bed. I curled back up in bed and I felt Norman's arm slink around me. I smiled. "Where you been?" I heard him whisper. "Mingus woke Levi up who in turn woke Faith up. We spent some time with them."

A few days later I was putting my kids to bed, by myself and I curled up in bed and just cried into a pillow. I heard the door open a few minutes later and just laid there. I didn't get up until my 'husband' came stumbling into the bedroom drunk. "Have fun?" I asked still holding onto my pillow. "Would have had more fun if you were there." I heard him slur. "Well... someone has to watch the 3 miracles we created." I sighed. I was 25, and this should be me running all over and doing all this "partying" - "I could have paid for a baby sitter." I heard him mutter from beside me. "Nah. I don't some random person watching my kids, without knowing anything about them." I said in a stern tone. "We're married. We should be out doing what other couples do.. Not staying home all the time. You should create a list of what you're looking for in a baby sitter. I want you to have fun." I heard him slur as he wrapped me up in his arms. I laid there and smelled the alcohol that was coming from his body. I was fixing to throw up and looked over at him "How many did you drink?" I asked not wanting to know. "Enough." I heard him say. I just laid there thinking. The next day I was woke up by Mingus asking me to take him to school, and I got up and looked at Norman still passed out from drinking. I quietly dressed my babies and carried them to the car. We sat in silence all the way to our destination, and I heard Mingus tell me goodbye and I smiled and said it right back. All the way home, I prayed that Norman wasn't awake. I snuck into the apartment and gathered up some of my clothes and some for Mercy and her siblings. I started to write the note out and broke down. "Dear Norman, I'm sorry that I'm not here but I just need time by myself. I figured that with you being hung over, our kids wouldn't get the attention they deserve so I'm bringing them with me. Only time will tell when/if I'll come back. Remember what they always said "If you love something let it go. If it's ment to be, it will come back. I still love you, but I just need time." I left the note on the kitchen island. I walked with my kids back outside. I drove to a hotel the furthest from the apartment and booked a room for a week. I carried Faith and Levi inside and then Mercy looked up at me and I bent down and asked her what was wrong. "Why isn't daddy here?" She asked me. "Daddy is taking a nap and we're gonna let him nap and we're here because.." That's when I didn't know if I could lie to her. "Daddy is napping, because he did something that grown ups do sometimes. So.. we're staying here until he wakes up." I said as I saw her eyes change. "Does daddy not love us anymore?" I heard her ask me. "Of course daddy loves us." I said as I pulled her into a hug. "Mommy?" I heard her ask me. "Yes sweetie." - "Can I watch cartoons?" I shook my head and turned on some cartoon channel and next thing I knew she was fast asleep in the bed. I looked over at my phone and it still didn't have any messages. I sat down and just looked at my sleeping babies and burst out crying.

I ended up staying just a day or two until I broke down and called Norman to come get me. I picked my phone up and cried, would he even pick up the phone? I listened to it ring. "Hey!" I heard Norman say with enthuistiasm and I smiled. "Hey.." - "What's wrong?" I heard him ask me with emotion on the other end. "I wanted to know if I could... If I could..." - "You're always welcome home. I've been waiting for you to ask that. I promise I'll be a better husband and father, that is if you give me the chance." I heard his voice break. "Yes! I want to come home, and I'll be a better wife and mother." I cried. "Can you come get me? Please?" I begged him. "Of course where are you?" I heard him say as I heard him get up. "Um at the Hilton Suites about 2 hours from the apartment." - "I'm on my way. What room?" - "Uh.. 13." I said looking at the door. "Hold on one minute please." I said as I shifted Faith and Levi around in my arms. "Someone wants to talk to you." I said with a smile. "Hi Daddy!" I heard Mercy scream. I heard the voice on the other end break. "Hey.. Hi sweetie." I broke down and cried because I was so fucking selfish.

I looked at my phone and noticed the time was about 5:30 at night. I heard a knock on the door and I looked over at Mercy asleep with her brother and sister. I cried as I opened the door and saw my husband standing there, a mess, looking like he hasn't slept in days, or showered or changed his clothing. "Hey.." I heard him say and I looked up at him and jumped into his arms and cried. "I... Love... You..." I choked out between sobs. "I love you too." I heard him say in my ear. "I'm so sorry.. I've been so selfish." I let go of him and let him see his kids. After a while we left together, I bucked our kids into their car seats and handed the key back to the person in the front lobby. "Ma'am you know there isn't a refund on your room. You paid for a week.." - "I know, but I don't need it anymore." I said with a smile. We drove home and when I carried Levi and Faith in and Norman carried Mercy in,and she woke up and freaked out until she saw it was her daddy. "DADDY!" she yelled as she grabbed a hold of his neck. I went into the bedroom and saw on my side of the nightstand, my engagement and wedding ring. I carefully picked them up in my hands and placed them back on. I walked back out and saw Norman feeding Levi and Faith who were looking up at him.


	24. Nowadays

Me and Norman decided to work on our marriage, we sat down on the couch with note pads. "Okay we write down what we want to change or what we have a problem with, and when we finish me switch and let each other know what our views are. Understand?" I heard my husband ask me. "Yeah." I picked mine up and a pen and started writing. I finished and saw my husband just look at me. "Ready to switch?" I asked. "Yes." He handed me his and I handed him mine. I read over his list and just burst out crying. "Hey? Why are you crying?" He asked me. Nothing on the list in particular set me off, it was just I had a few more things wrote on mine than he had on his. "Shh. Com're." He pulled me into a hug. "It's okay. Shh. Don't cry. We're working on our marriage, which should be a happy thing." He tried to get me to laugh, but nothing worked. So he turned to the one sure thought thing, he started tickling me and I started laughing. He had the upper hand and got into a position that would look weird to other people. "There's that smile I love." He said as I breathed out "Stop" my stomach was hurting from laughing so much. He stopped and curled up with me on the couch. All of a sudden Mingus walked into the room with his sister and said "Oh.. Sorry." He turned around. "We're not doing anything..." I said as I started to sit up. Mercy ran into my arms and sat in my lap. "Looks like someone is due for a hair cut." I said as I ruffled her hair.

That night me and Norman watched as Mercy fell asleep and we placed her in her own bed. I kissed her and walked out and started doing the dishes, when I felt Norman come up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist. "We can finish those in the morning com're." I felt his hard member on my leg, I turned around and kissed him hard. We barely made it to the bedroom, and as soon as we did he lightly shoved me onto the bed. We worked quickly tearing each others clothes clothes off. I saw Norman grab for a condom. Afterwards, he made me bend over the bed and worked my clit between his rough fingers. I moaned into the pillow. "You like that? Huh?" I heard Norman say as he sped up his movement. I was so close to my climax and then I felt a feeling I hadn't felt before. "Well that is new." I heard Norman whisper to himself. He released his grip and I moved and saw the wet spot on the sheets. "I.. I've nev...never... done-" I was cut off by Norman shoving a finger in his mouth. "You taste so sweet." I heard him say. I went back to the position where I was before. I felt Norman start to tease me, and then he shoved his whole length into me without asking me anything. I ended up gasping. "Gosh I missed this." I heard him say as he pounded into my pussy. I heard the sound of skin slapping and Norman grunting. He ended up hitting my g-spot just the right way and then jerked himself out of me. I started crying. "I. Was. So. Close. ." I muttered into the pillow. "Hmm that sounds like a good idea." He helped me up and then laid on the bed and I straddled him. I slowly slid myself down on his length, and I started moaning. Norman put his hands on my hips and started moving me like he wanted. "I leaned down and kissed him and started nipping at his neck. "You like that huh?" I said as I moved my hips a little faster. I saw him grit his teeth together and I grabbed one of his hands and placed one on my already engorged clit and he started rubbing it and I looked into his eyes and he started bucking his hips. I whimpered. "Cum for me baby." I heard him say and I exploded all over him. He thrusted into me a couple times and I knew his release happened. He let go of me and I climbed off of him. I panted and tried to catch my breath. "Ya okay?" I heard Norman say as he kissed me. "I can't believe I actually did that." I said to him. "Hey, it's natural." I heard him say with a smirk on his face. I blushed. "You're the first girl I've ever been with who did that." I blushed even more at that comment. I ended up falling asleep in my husband's arms.

A couple days later we set out for Georgia. I had my bags packed, and then I made sure Mercy had her little suitcase packed. Then I made sure Faith and Mercy had what they needed. I was in the bedroom, and nursing my youngest when I heard a knock on the door. "Yeah?" I asked nervously. I saw the door slightly open and Norman stuck his head in and asked me "Almost ready?" - "Yeah, just let them finish and I'll be ready." I said with a smile looking down at my babies. He walked over and kissed my head. "Take your time." He walked out of the room to go load the bags into the car. I waited about 5 more minutes and my babies fell asleep. I fixed my shirt and picked both of them up and tried not to wake them up. "Awe." I heard Norman whisper when he saw me slowly carry our son and daughter out of the bedroom. "Want some help?" I heard him ask me. "Sure." I let him hold our son and he looked down at him sleeping. I saw Mingus come out of his bedroom with Mercy, and she ran up to me and pulled on my shirt. "Mommy potty?" Mingus came up and offered to hold Faith and I obliged. "Come on sweetie." I said as Mercy held my hand and walked with me to the bathroom. Afterwards she lifted her arms up and wanted me to carry her. I lifted her up in my arms, and snuggled her. I never really knew what love was until I had her. She was the perfect balance of me and Norman. She wrapped her hand up in my hair and I felt her snuggle into my neck. All of a sudden she pointed to a mark on my neck. "Mommy hurt?" I didn't know how to explain hickeys to my 1 year old. "Mommy is okay." I said as casually as I could. "I loves you Mommy." I heard her say into my neck. "Mommy loves you too." I said almost crying. I walked out and Norman looked at me with a worried look. I mouthed something to him and he smiled. "Ready?" I heard him ask everybody. We walked to the car, and I put Mercy into her car seat and she tried to buckle herself up but couldn't and Norman was buckling Levi into his carseat. "Daddy?" Mercy asked trying to figure out how to buckle herself in. "Help." I heard her ask him. He went and slowly showed her "See? This way." She put her tiny hands on his and he pushed the buckles together. "You did it!" I heard him tell her. "YAY! Thank you Daddy." I heard her tell him. "You are so welcome sweetie." He kissed her on the head. She was in the middle of her brother and sister and could keep a close eye on them. When both of them were buckled in I heard her say "Hi." to both of them.

We stopped at a hotel for the night and got a room with 2 beds. We settled in and ordered a pizza. We stayed up for a few hours until Mercy was falling asleep. I slept in the bed with my daughter and my husband. It felt awkward sleeping in the same room as a 16 year old. Mercy kept a death grip on my hair, the whole night. Until she woke up crying. "What's wrong baby?" I heard Norman ask her. "Scary." She kept crying until she woke her brother and sister up. "Shh.. Its gonna be okay." I went and picked my younger babies up and took them into the bathroom and started to nurse them until they calmed down. By the time I shut the door Mercy was beating on the door for me to let her in. "You want some milk?" I asked her and she shook her head. "Norman?" I lightly yelled. "Yeah?" - "I got these two calmed down, um think you can handle them for a little bit? I think they need to be changed." He shook his head. "Come here." I opened my arms for my oldest. "Try not to hurt Mommy okay?" I held her little body in my arms and as quickly as she started drinking, she was out. I fixed my shirt and carried her out and yawned. "Is she okay?" I heard Mingus ask me. "Yeah, she was just scared. I calmed her down. She should be able to sleep through the night." I handed her to him and he said his goodnights and put her in his dad's arms. "I love you." I heard Norman say as he kissed her head.

A couple days later we finally arrived in Georgia. We stopped to get some groceries, and they had an puppy adoption thing set up outside. I hid Mercy's face from view. We let Mercy pick out a toy, with her brother's help. Me and Norman kept debating on getting Mercy a puppy. "Come on. She'd really love it. Plus it might keep her out of our hair for a little while." I raised my eyebrows. "We can't. We barely have time to care for Eye and.. and.. what's that other cat's name?" - Kitty." I said with a smirk. "I'll think about it." I heard him say as I pushed the stroller through the store. I saw Mercy come back, and she had a huge smile on her face. "Did you find something sweetie?" She pulled out this Daryl action figure. "Daddy." She said smiling. He took it from her, and melodramatically sighed. "You women are going to kill me." He went and booped her nose. "You sure you want this toy?" He asked our daughter. "YES!" I saw Mercy go to her brother and want to be picked up. He picked her up and we headed to the register to check out. I walked to the baby aisle and found some socks with rattles in them. I hurried back to where my husband was and showed him and pouted. "Put em up there." I smiled. Mercy was in her brother's arms and I looked at Norman. "Did you decide?" I asked. "I think.. She deserves one. So yeah." I smiled. "Mercy?" I asked sweetly. She turned her head. "Mommy and Daddy have a surprise for you." She struggled to get free. "SUR - SUR - IZE" She said the best she could. "Can you cover your eyes?" She covered her eyes and we walked outside. "Mommy is going to put you down, but don't be scared okay?" She shook her head. I put her down in the pen and she kinda got scared. "Oww!" I heard her say. "You can open them." Her daddy said. I had my phone out recording her when she opened her eyes. "PUPPY!" I heard her yell as the last teacup french bulldog puppy was licking her face. "We'll take him." I heard Norman tell the woman sitting at the table laughing at Mercy playing with her new friend. "Okay. Just fill out this packet. I have to inform you, that's the runt of this litter." I looked at my daughter just playing and then she called out for her brother the best she could and he bent down and put his arm over the fence. I looked at the small puppy jumping on my daughter, and it hurt my heart knowing that nobody wanted this sweet innocent puppy. Norman paid the adoption fee and then picked the cute little puppy up. "Daddy I wanna carry her." He bent down and handed her the tiny puppy. "Don't drop her okay? Pretend she's your brother or sister. Okay?" She snuggled that puppy so close. "If you don't mind..." I heard the girl ask before we turned away. "We like to take pictures of all of our puppies for their 'FURever' homes. If you don't have a problem. I... I.. I mean you probably get it all the time." She looked at Norman nervously. "Sure." I said with a huge smile. We posed for the picture, and the woman actually focused on Mercy more than Norman. "You take good care of that puppy okay?" I heard her tell Mercy before she left. Norman put Levi and Faith back into their carseats and strapped Mercy into hers. "Okay next stop pet store." He looked at Mercy who had the puppy snuggled in her lap. We drove until we found a pet store and got out. "Come here." I motioned to my daughter. I picked her up and placed her into the buggy with her new friend in her lap. "Mommy it tickles." I heard her laugh as I pushed her siblings through the store. We got food, puppy pads, and a collar and leash. "Which color do you want?" I heard Norman ask Mercy. "That one." She pointed to a collar that was pink and had a small black bow on it. He picked out a cute leash. He picked out some treats and went and got Eye and 'Kitty' some food and treats. We went to check out, and Mercy showed the 20 something year old guy her new puppy. "Awe did your Mommy buy her for you?" He eyed me up and down and then quickly glanced at Norman. "My Mommy and Daddy." She looked at Norman when she said "Daddy" The man quickly rang up the stuff after giving Norman a weird look. I guess he saw it, and he kissed me right in front of the kid. "Have a nice day." The kid said shyly. "You to" I said back.

We got back to the car. "I can't believe that motherfuc-" I opened my eyes wide at my husband. "Sorry. But he was eyeing you up and down. Did you see the way he looked at me when Mercy said 'Daddy'?" I shook my head slowly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love you that's what matters. Fu-. Screw what society thinks." I let go of him as he closed the door and started to walk away when I felt a smack on my ass. I looked at him and just smiled. We hurried home and I carried Faith and Levi in and put them in the play pen while I brought groceries in. Mercy carried her puppy in, and put her on the couch and climbed up herself. I brought the last bag in, and saw her loving on her puppy and Eye jumped up on the couch and she started petting him. Then the puppy lunged at the cat, and got scratched. "Ooby No!" I heard Mercy yell. I walked over and checked the puppy. "Why did Eye do that Mommy?" I heard her ask me while crying. "He was scared honey. Remember when Kitty scratched you when he was little? That's the same thing." I hugged her and went to go cook dinner. I saw Norman walk in and grab Mercy a juice box out of the fridge. I noticed his fingers were pink, one was red, and blue. "What happened?!" I asked shocked thinking he hurt himself. "I think they call them manicures?" I looked at the nail polish. "Oh fancy." I smirked at him. He kissed my head. "Thank you for giving me her." I saw him point at Mercy coloring in the floor. "I didn't do it all by myself." I whispered into his neck. I heard one of our newest babies start to cry. Mercy ran over to their swings and kneeled down and started playing with Levi's lil hands. "She certainly took on the bigger sister role quick." I heard Norman say. I saw Mingus come out of his room, and took the opportunity to say "Well, she had a pretty awesome teacher." He smiled as I pointed over at his sister trying to calm her little sibling down. "Hey dad. I was wondering if me and Chandler could hang out here. He said he got this new game and wants to play it with me. I mean if you don't mind." I looked at Norman. "Sure. It's okay with me." He smiled. I started getting the food ready. All of a sudden I heard a loud cry. I looked at Mercy trying to put her puppy in her sister's lap. "Mercy?" I asked her and she turned around. "She can't hold her yet. Come here." I put the puppy on the floor and showed her some food. "Lets wash our hands." I carried my daughter over to the sink and washed her hands. I put her in her high chair and a small plate in front of her.

That night I tucked Mercy into her bed, and made sure her puppy was in her crate. I let Norman read her a story, and she was dozing off on his shoulder. I saw him close the book and kiss her and I kissed my little girl on the head. I walked over and saw my son and daughter asleep in their cribs. I walked out of the room and kissed my husband. He brushed my hair out of my eyes. "What's going on with you?" I heard him ask me in a low whisper. "Nothing..." I said looking down. He lifted my head up, and looked into my eyes. "Your eyes." He said as he looked into them, before I quickly turned. "I'm okay." I said in a whisper. "You need to go back on your medication right?" He said. I looked at the floor and shook my head. "Tomorrow you're going to get these babies enough milk to last until your medication wears off." I heard him say. "I can do it now if you want me to." I said with a slight smile. "If you want to." He said as he pulled me into a hug. "Any time you need to, I don't want you to get back to how you were before. Because if anything happened to you..." He looked down. "I'm not going anywhere." I said as I cupped his cheeks. "Daddy?" I heard a little voice behind us. I watched as my husband went and bent down to our daughter. "Is something wrong with Mommy?" She said rubbing her little eyes. "Mommy is just sick, and she has to take some medicine to get better. Don't worry though, because Mommy is super tough." I smiled as I heard my husband tell my daughter the semi truth. I came out of the bedroom and showed Norman all the milk I produced. "You sure this is going to be enough?" I asked him. "I'm sure, we have some left over from last time." - "Mommy?" I heard my daughter say. "Come here sweetie." I looked at my husband to ask if it was okay if she slept with us. He shook his head and smiled. She laid down in our bed and watched cartoons and fell asleep. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "For what?" My husband looked at me confused. "For letting her sleep in our bed so much." I frowned. "I love it when she sleeps with us, I know she's safe. Plus I like it when I wake up and see you two snuggled up together." He said as he brushed her hair out of her face. "She looks just like you." He said with a smile. "She has your eyes and personality." I said with a smirk. He held my hand and we fell asleep.

I woke up and saw my little girl curled up next to me but an empty spot, and I laid there and waited until my daughter wanted to get up. I felt her squirm closer to me. I rolled over a bit and held her. She opened her little eyes, and smiled at me. She may look like me but she had her daddy's smile. "Good morning sweetie." I said as I kissed her little nose. "Hi Mommy." She said with her breath still heavy with sleep. "Want to get up?" I asked her. "No." She snuggled closer to me. "Okay. We can lay here a little while longer." I said. I drifted right off to sleep with her. "Honey?" I heard my husband say as he shook me. "Yeah?" I said as I yawned. "Just wanted to make sure you were alive." I heard him say. "Yeah I'm alive." I smiled at him. "Wanna get up?" I heard him ask. I looked at the clock and saw it was about 2 in the afternoon. "Oh." I hurried to get up. I walked out into the living room and saw Norman's mom sitting down holding Mercy who was telling her all about her puppy. "Hi." I said shyly. She saw me and smiled. "How have you been?" She asked me as I sat down. I shrugged. I excused myself to take a pill for my depression. "Is something wrong?" I heard Marianne ask Norman as I stood in the bathroom. "Her depression has come back in full swing." I heard my husband say as I sat in the bath tub and cried. "Is she going to be okay?" I heard Marianne ask again. "If she continues to take her medication. She doesn't want to stop nursing to do it." - "It's gotta be hard for her. 3 kids and struggling with this." I kept crying and I didn't know what to do. I heard some little feet coming down the hall and I looked over to see my daughter. "Mommy?" She walked towards me. "Hi Sweetie." I said as I sniffled. "Sick?" She asked me turning her head to the side. I picked her up and put her in my lap. "Mommy has something called depression. She is supposed to take medicine to help her get better, but she cares more about you and your brother and sister than she cares for herself." I went and tried to explain what was going on in terms she can understand. I tried my best. All of a sudden I heard foot steps coming, and I looked at Mercy who was rubbing my hair and saying "Feel better soon Mommy." - "I love you Mommy." I looked over to see Norman with a worried look on his face. "You okay?" I looked at him and sniffled. "For now." He helped me out of the tub and just held me. "We're gonna get through this you know that right?" I looked at him and shook my head. I walked back out and looked at Marianne who looked up from playing with her grandbabies. "Norman told me what happened..." I shook my head and just held my daughter. "If I didn't have these love muffins I can't tell you what I would do.. I have an idea." I cringed at the thought. Norman squeezed my hand and I smiled. "I want to be here for them and for my husband, and step son." - "It's always good to look at the people who would be effected if something happened." I heard her say.

That night for dinner Mercy didn't want to eat. "Mercy, you've gotta eat something." She got fussy with me. "Look what Mommy made you." I put the plate of chicken nuggets in front of her. "YAY!" I heard her scream. I saw Marianne look over at her when she walked into the room. "Her fave food is chicken nuggets. We have to have them atleast once a week." I looked over at my daughter chowing down on her food. "Slow down sweetie." - "You got a bottle for these babies?" I heard her ask me. "Yeah let me get some." I grabbed a bottle and made one. "Here you go." I said with a smile. She held the bottle and looked down at Faith. "She's starting to look more like you every day." I smiled as I looked at her. "We got lucky I guess. Our son looking like his daddy, and our daughters looking like their mommy." - "Yeah that little boy is going to be a trouble maker when he's older, if he is anything like his daddy." I saw Norman walk out of the nursery with our son. He looked over at Mercy who was still eating her chicken nuggets. Then she started choking. I got up and started to try to get her to cough up the stuff in her throat. She got it up, and I cried. "Okay, Mercy. No more nuggets." I held her so close to me. "I almost lost you." I breathed out.

A few days later my bestie and her husband showed up. I had Mercy in my arms was just giddy that my best friend was spending her first mother's day with me. "Hey Mercy remember me?" She said as Mercy buried her face into my neck. "Shy just like her mommy" I said as I put my head on her's. "Come on in. Faith and Levi are still asleep, but yeah." I saw Dylan walk in with Owen in his arms. "Someone had a long trip." I whispered. "He stayed awake until we crossed over into Georgia, then he was out." I heard him say with a smirk as he hugged me. I noticed Mercy's bean bag chair in the floor. "You can lay him on there if you want." I watched as Dylan lightly placed his son down. "Long trip?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned to see Marianne carrying Levi around still asleep. "You could say that." I started to introduce everybody. I looked and saw Norman helping Mingus with a bottle for Faith. I smiled. I watched as Mercy walked over to Owen and just looked at him. Until he stirred and then she ran into my arms. "It's okay." I whispered in her ear. He woke up and I couldn't help but laugh, his hair was everywhere and he just looked so cute. "Hi." I whispered as I smiled. He started to get a little upset. Until he heard his Daddy say "It's okay lil man." He got up and ran over to his Daddy. I saw Mercy move a bit. She climbed out of my arms, and looked at Owen. "Hi..." She said quietly. I saw Owen look at his parents who shook their heads and smiled. "Mercy why don't you show him your toys?" I saw her grab his hand and pull him into her room and then I heard her pull everything out. I saw Marianne offer Levi over to Dylan. Then I saw Norman offer Faith over to my best friend. They both smiled. "How has parenthood been treating you?" I heard Norman ask Dylan. "Tiring. Exhausting. But I love coming home and seeing him smile and everything." I saw Norman smile. "So, how have you two been holding up with 3 little ones?" I heard my friend ask as Faith held her finger. "I loves my babies. These two keep us up all night, but I love their wittle cwute faces." I said as I laid my head on Norman's shoulder. I burst out with the question "So do you guys want anymore." Before I realized what I was saying. "I think one is enough for us. I don't know how you manage to get anything done with 3.. well 4." I saw Dylan look over at Mingus. "My sister helps a lot. She tries her hardest to change diapers and make bottles." I heard Mingus say with a smile. We were talking among ourselves until we heard a scream. I got up and looked and saw Scooby in Owen's lap licking his face. He was laughing. Mercy just looked at me like she was in trouble. "It's okay sweetie. Go play." I went back to sit down, after everything happened. "So.. do you guys want anymore?" I heard Dylan ask me and Norman. We looked at each other. "Oh No. I know that look." I heard my friend say as she looked at me weird. "NO! We're not pregnant. But..." I saw Norman snake his arm around my waist. "We *MIGHT* try for another one. We haven't decided." I saw Norman's mom just give us both weird looks. I saw Mingus do the same thing. "Like he said.. we haven't decided. We don't know what we want. Especially NOW. We are raising these 3 up to a good age." I felt like we said the wrong thing. "We aren't just going to start having kids... if it happens it happens. If not.. we're perfectly fine with that." I said with a worried look on my face. Me and Norman both knew the truth, that's what matters.

That night we were getting ready for bed and Mercy just curled up in her daddy's arms and was asleep before he even stepped into the bedroom. "You think when our 2 little ones get her age they'll tire her out like this?" I heard him ask me. "Maybe." I smiled at her asleep. "She's precious." I said as I brushed her hair out of her eyes. I looked over at Levi and Faith asleep in their cribs by our bed. "You really want to try to have another one?" I heard Norman ask me. I shrugged my shoulders. "We only really planned on Mercy and a sibling. I only really wanted 2 kids, but I'm happy I have 3." I said as I sat down on the bed. I looked over at him holding our oldest. "I was thinking if you wanted to try... maybe when I'm in my early 50's... I mean if you still want to be with someone my age." I looked at him and crawled over to where he was sitting on the bed. "You're stuck with me for life." I said with a smirk. "As for another kid... I'll see. 3 is a lot. Especially with you being gone a lot. I don't blame you, but I don't know if I want to try it with 4 kids. And..." I glanced over at the 2 cribs. "And?" - "We had 1 baby the first pregnancy... twins the second pregnancy... if I happen to have triplets for my final pregnancy... yeah I couldn't handle that many kids." I sighed. "If you don't want to, we don't have to have another one. I mean you're the one who is going to have to put up with everything for 9 months. Plus each time you've had complications come up during labor." He said as I held our daughter.

Mother's Day quickly arrived and I laid in bed listening to my youngest babies breathe next to me. Mercy had her arms wrapped around them fast asleep. I looked over at my husband who just had a big smile on his face. "What?" I asked him. "Just can't believe you're here. I actually have a wife, kids, etc." I smiled at him. He took a selfie of me with our babies. "No..." I pleaded. "Why?" He asked me. "I don't want their precious little faces shown." I went and tried to cover my babies faces. "Just let me take it and I'll fix it." - "Fine." I let it go. He took a picture of me and our 3 beautiful babies. "Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife. Waking up next to this woman and our kids, nothing can describe it. Wanting to also wish ALL Mother's a Happy Mother's Day. Without you, we wouldn't be here." He posted it. He posted one of me and his mom with our babies, and then posted one of me and Helena at Mercy's first birthday party as a Mother's Day wish for both of us.

Norman had to go to set, and I didn't feel like getting up. That night I had my 3 babies and Owen in the bed with me. "You sure he won't be a problem?" I heard Dylan as from the hallway. "I'm sure. You guys look like a mess. Just take enjoy a baby free night. I've got everything covered." I looked at Owen and Mercy sitting together. They were watching Frozen for the one millionth time. I was playing with Levi and Faith until they fell asleep. I must have fallen asleep because I remember Mercy waking me up because she wanted to watch the movie again. I started it for her, and fell back asleep. I was woke up by my husband crawling into bed. I glanced over at the clock and noticed it was about 2 in the morning. "Long day?" I yawned as I rolled over to look him in the eyes, he was still filthy from set. "Unbelievably. When are you going to visit? Everybody wants to meet Faith and Levi?" He said as he kissed my nose. "Maybe tomorrow? I'm still kind of nervous." I sighed. "It's going to be okay. You already know everybody." Me and Norman fell asleep and were quickly woken up by crying. "Norman.." I nudged him. "Your turn." He nudged me back. I got out from under the nice warm covers to find my daughter crying. "What's wrong Faith?" I asked as I picked her up. "Shh... Mommy is here. Oh don't cry." I changed her and she still cried. "Want your Daddy? Huh?" She looked at me weird. "That's what you want isn't it? You're a Daddy's Girl already." I smiled at her. I walked into the bedroom and nudged Norman. "What?! What's the matter?!" He sat up in the bed. "Someone wants their Daddy." I said as I placed our daughter in his arms." - "Hi sweetie." He said looking down at her tiny body. "You and your brother take turns don't cha? One night he cries all night, the next you do. I still love you though." He held her until she fell asleep. "Mommy?"Mercy said as she woke up. "Oooh!" She said as she saw her sister. "Play?" I heard her say. "No sweetie she's asleep. She'll play later though okay?" - "Otays Mommy." She snuggled up next to her sister. "I lubs chu." I heard her whisper in her ear. "Want to give her a goodnight kiss?" I asked. I saw my oldest kiss her sister.

The next day I got up and got dressed and got Mercy dressed. "Where we going Mommy?" I heard her ask me. "We're gonna go see Daddy at work sweetie." I said as I tried to get her shoes on. "YAY!" I heard her scream and put her hands in the air. I walked into the nursery and saw Faith kicking her little feet. "Sweetie.." I said as I picked her up and held her close to me. I dressed my youngest and got them ready to go. "Who's coming with me?" I asked everybody else. Everybody chose to come with me. We got into the car and drove to the set. We were directed to Norman's trailer and stood outside. I saw Mercy running around with Owen. I sat down on the ground with my youngest babies. All of a sudden I heard Mercy scream and got up to see her and Owen in Norman's arms. "You actually made it." He said as he set them down. He looked at Levi who was just laying in my lap kicking his feet and trying to grab at something. "How you doing buddy?" I heard Norman say as he scooped him up. I saw Norman grab his phone up and took a picture of Levi in his arms smiling. "Please don't post that." I begged him. "I won't." He pressed a button, and smiled. All of a sudden I saw Andrew walk over with a smile on his face. I saw Mercy run towards him. "Hi!" She said as she smiled. He picked her up and carried her back to me. "So we finally get to see the newest little Reeduses." I smiled at him. "Yep. Faith and Levi in the flesh." Pretty soon other cast members showed up and asked to hold Levi and Faith. I watched at everybody came and went. We sat out for a little while longer, until Norman had to go finish up some last minute filming. All of a sudden I looked at Faith who was crying. I looked over and saw her arm all swollen. "What the-" I looked closer and saw that she was having an allergic reaction, and a bad one. I looked over at Marianne with a look of worry. "What happened?!" I heard her ask me. I shook my head not knowing what was going on. I noticed a little mark on her arm. "Shit." I said under my breath. "Bad word Mommy." I heard my daughter tell me. "Sorry sweetie." She got stung. I realized that now. I saw Norman running towards us. "We need to get her to the hospital. NOW!" I screamed at him. He looked down at Faith in my arms. "What happened?!" He said loudly. "She got stung." I cried. He called someone and all of a sudden we saw some EMTs who were on set come up to us. "Let us see her?" One of them said. I let them hold her and saw one bring out an Epi Pen. She kept crying and crying. Norman held onto me and I cried into his shoulder. They handed her back to us, and she was still swollen, but atleast the Epi Pen did what it was supposed to do. "She's going to be okay. Just to warn you, if she was that bad this time.. the next time could *coughs* kill her *coughs*" The EMT said with a worried look. "How old is she?" The other asked. "5 months." Me and Norman both said. "She has a twin brother.. could he have the same reaction?" I asked as I looked down at Mercy pulling on my shirt. "Possibly. Is this her sister?" They motioned towards Mercy. "Yes." Norman said. "You might want to go get all of them checked. Here you go." They gave us 2 pens in case we needed them."

We ended up going out to dinner after Norman finished working, and I walked to the table and Norman pulled the chair out for his mom, and then for me. "Thank you." I said to him. I looked over at my younger kids in the stroller asleep. We ordered, and I looked at Owen in his Daddy's lap playing with the menu. "Daddy?" Mercy said as she looked up at Norman. "Yes?" He said looking down at her. "Play?" She pointed over at her sister and brother asleep. "They're sleeping sweetheart." He said as he let her look in the stroller. She went back and started to play with her daddy's scruff. I saw Norman smile, and I started smiling. After a while they brought the food out, and Mercy got a plate full of spaghetti and started eating. I watched Norman eat his food and I started eating my food. All of a sudden Norman pulled a noodle off of Mercy's plate and stuck it in his mouth and offered me the other half. We did the whole "Lady and the Tramp" thing and Norman took a picture of the whole moment. He quickly uploaded and captioned it "Finally got to do this, with my wife." By the time we left it was late, and Mercy was fast asleep. Norman's mom carried her inside and asked if it was okay if she slept in her room. Me and Norman both said yes. I looked down at my youngest asleep. We placed them in their cribs and walked back to our room. We laid there for an hour and prayed that everybody was asleep. Me and Norman ended up having sex and afterwards hoped we were quiet enough to not wake anybody up. "Can I tell you something?" I said as Norman rolled over next to me. "Anything." He said trying to catch his breath. "Before I ever got pregnant.. remember we used to always have sex?" He shook his head. "Well.. for some reason when I was super depressed and we had sex it made me feel so much better. I was wondering if maybe... you know we could try to do that more often. I mean I love our daughter sleeping in our bed, but..." Norman looked at me and kissed me "Of course. Whatever makes you feel better, and if I can help you anyway... Yes. We can start doing this more often." I smiled at him. "I just feel like a crappy parent choosing sex over our kids." - "Hey, we're going to do this when she's asleep. You're still going to be there for her everyday all day. Plus I don't like you being on that medication anyways, it makes you act weird." He said as he held me close to him. "I love you." I said as I almost fell asleep. "Love you too." I loved the feeling of being wrapped up in my husband's arms, and our skin connecting with each other. I laid there until I heard a cry come from the other room. "I've got it." Norman said as he got up. I saw him get dressed. I laid back down until he brought Levi into the room. "I think he wants you Mommy." I sat up and started to nurse him and he looked up into my eyes. "You know how gorgeous you look right now?" Norman said as he broke the silence. "Oh you're just saying that cause I have my boobs out." - "No. I mean it, you're gorgeous anyways, but even more so when you're being a mom." - "You're not buying yourself any points Mister." I said with a smirk. I looked down and Levi was out. "Did you change him?" I asked quietly. "Yeah. Want me to put him back?" - "Nah. Let me just look at him for a little while longer." I looked at his little face and he was the spitting image of Norman. "There's NO denying that he's your son. You know that right?" I saw Norman smile. "I'm proud of that." He said as he brushed the little tuff of hair on top of our son's head. "I'm so proud of you." He said looking me in the eyes. "You had 3 babies for me. Married my crazy ass. I could go on and on." I looked at him and leaned up and kissed him. "Wanna put him back to bed?" I handed the sleeping baby in my arms to my husband. I went and got dressed, and laid back down with my husband.


End file.
